The name is to blame
by lady-knight nel
Summary: S.I story /OC. Anastasia didn't really have an opinion about her name...that was until she died and then moments later ressurected into the Naruto world. So in her usual manner she decided to go with the flow while being a total badass.
1. Chapter 1- Introduction

**A.N./ I don't own Naruto or any of the characters of the Naruto world, except for my Oc.**

 **I've read a lot of SI stories recently and I wanted to try my hand at one.**

 **I hope you enjoy.**

 **P.S. The updated will be slow for this story.**

 **P.S.2 This chapter has been rewritten. The story's point of view has been changed from 3d to 1st (It seemed more appropriate).**

* * *

 **THE NAME IS TO BLAME**

Chapter 1

I had never really thought how I would die until I actually did.

In the true ironic fashion that was my life, I died during a very sunny day. It was the day that I was supposed to move into my new apartment after having spent one year in the dorms of my university when it happened. I died at the age of nineteen. One of the fifty people that died that day during a terrorist attack in the mall I was shopping at. And it was not a fun was it a fast one.

At one moment I was looking at a really cute set of cutleries for my new home and at the next I was on the ground in a pool of my own blood with a bullet in my stomach. Five minutes later I died, chocking in my own blood.

Now I came from a family that didn't really care about religion; except for my maternal grandmother who every time she visited kept telling me that Jesus was looking after me and who every Easter was crying over the crucifixion of Christ that was on repeat on the Tv, therefore, I wasn't really religious either. It wasn't really that I was an atheist, it was just that I needed proof and some books written by some drunk some centuries ago just weren't enough for me. If they were enough then she I say that I had enough proof that the twelve Greek Gods existed or that Cinderella was real.(*1) So, when I died I hadn't expected much, I died with a free mind but even I wouldn't have expected where I ended up.

My name used to be Anastasia. I know that my name meant resurrection or rebirth and it seemed that somebody up there knew it too because when I regained my consciousness after what felt like years I found myself in a much younger and definitely smaller looking body looking up at two giants, who I later on found out were my new set of parents, smiling down at me.

Naturally, I did the first obvious thing anyone in my situation would do. I screamed bloody murder, which came out as a baby wail, a fact which confused me at the time and made me blink in surprise and stop. The giants talked in a language that I did not understand yet identified as Japanese and then looked at me again and spoke words that I could not understand yet later on I would identify them as my name.

I still couldn't understand how in the seven bloody hells did I end up with those giants. I could clearly remember my very painful death, so how was I there _? Did someone save me?_ It still didn't make sense though. But even though I was confused, sleepiness overwhelmed me and I fell asleep. It wouldn't be until I woke up again and was breastfed for the first time that I would realise my situation.

I had died and I was reborn.

Huh 10 points to Buddhism then.

* * *

I am not ever going to comment on the breastfeeding part because it was just embarrassing. I, a nineteen-year-old woman had ended up being unable to speak, move or eat on my own. And the less I said about the diaper changes the better it would be for everyone. The first month of my new life I lived a life of depression. After the first night I at least accepted that this was real and not a dream. Yet I still missed my life. I had just finished my first year as a law student and was well on my second. My father had still been alive in the Before and I missed him. I would do anything just to hear the voices of my friends, but it just wasn't possible. After one month of mourning from me and worrying from my parents I finally realised that I couldn't change my circumstances and began to accept my situation as a second chance in life. I could see that my new parents were happy for this change, my continuous silence had made them worry. Though the fact that I had accepted my circumstances didn't mean that I wouldn't do anything I could to regain my freedom.

I realised fast these three facts in my new life. One my new name was Sorami.

Two I was in a Japanese speaking country.

And lastly three, I probably was not reborn in the year 2017, the year I died. The last one was concluded by a lack of many modern electronical devices that I was used to seeing in my everyday life. Even though I didn't have the best sight yet I would still try to examine my surroundings to the best of my abilities, that was a consequence of my love for researching, wanting to know everything about anything.

My new parents were lovely people and I could see that they loved me very much. After I woke up from my depressive trance I learned that their names were Masato and Kumori. Kumori was my main caretaker and even though I had felt that I was betraying my first mother at the beginning I couldn't help but love her. It had been years since I had felt a mother's love. My mother in my first life died when I was five, so I didn't remember her that much. It was easier for me to love Kumori as I had craved a mother's touch for a very long time.

My first father though had still been alive when I died so it took longer to bond with my new one. It took a while to stop thinking of him as a replacement and comparing him with my first father, but I came to understand that this wasn't healthy and that my father would have wanted for me to live my new life to the fullest, or as much as a person who was often time very apathetic could. My grandfather, I met two times in my first months in my new life and for some reason he seemed awfully familiar. I still couldn't understand why.

In my search for freedom and away of the inability to control things in my life I managed to attract a lot of attention. It seemed that I did things a little too fast and I was a bit too smart. I didn't really care though if they thought I was a genius, I wanted my freedom dammit and if I felt a bit vindicated about the fact who would know to judge her? I had been a little too average in my first life. So, I started crawling at six months and was taking my first steps well by my nine months by pure sheer determination. My first words were monosyllables at the age of 5 months. First kaasan because I felt that my mother deserved it what with her spending the most time with me and then to-san. By the age of ten months I could string together a few sentences from the words I had picked up from around me. It was a good thing that my mind was developed like a child's, as I could absorb new knowledge much easier than I could as an adult. That though also meant that I reacted as a baby would in many situations instead of like the adult I used to be in another life, like crying all the time for the smallest of things.

Later on, when I had found out where I was I wouldn't be sure if my fast development was a good or a bad thing.

After all, without my knowledge I was already being called the Sarutobi prodigy and with how this world treats prodigies I wasn't sure if I wanted to be one.

When my mother took me outside with her at the age of one for the first time, I quickly came to the conclusion that my new world was much different than my old one. I saw- and wasn't' that a surprise I didn't need glasses anymore- that the technology in this world was a mixture of old, new and non-existent. While there were TVs there weren't any cars and laptops just didn't exist. I was ok with that though the last one did disappoint me a little. My main research and entertainment source didn't exist anymore. I would have to make do. That thought was cut short when I saw people jumping from building to building. When I asked my mother about it in an excited, childish manner, I was told that they were shinobi. At that moment a feeling of dread overcame me. I turned my head upwards and yep a mountain with four heads carved on to it. My fears were confirmed.

I was now in the Naruto world.

The first thought was: _Dammit! Why couldn't I have been born in the Harry Potter series?_ Like literally I knew every page by heart! But no, from all the fictional alternative universes to be reborn into (And wasn't that exciting? I was in an alternate universe?), it had to be the one that the only knowledge I had about was the first two manga of the series and all the fanfiction I read about the universe, mainly of the Harry Potter crossover category. I had just begun to get into the series after having read a fuck ton of fanfiction about it that gathered my interest. Though I should be thankful, I could have been born into a fictional world I knew nothing about like Bleach or something similar. Thank the gods for my two-year obsession with Fanfiction. Even though most of them had altered many situations, I had read lots of them and some that even span through the whole series to know the most important facts even if I had minimum details.

When I got home that day I decided to write everything I knew at some point down in English in order for me to remember everything. Though that would probably happen when I had more freedom and the actual ability to write properly I thought wryly as I looked at my pudgy hands. For the moment I would have to try to remember anything I could about this universe from my past life. To my surprise I realized abruptly that I was already starting to forget facts about the personal life of Anastasia and I now that I thought about it I could feel myself getting more and more dissociated with the feelings that accompanied those memories as time moved on, though most of my general knowledge still remained.

I even called myself Sorami instead of Anastasia.

When did that happen?

After I got through my feelings about this situation and another existential crisis, I accepted that I was Sorami now just with some 'extra' knowledge.

Then I debated what should I do about my future knowledge. From what I gathered from the Hokage monument I was born either right before Minato died or before the Third. That would need investigating.

Now about interacting with the main characters I didn't really care. I was not going to live my life hiding from people all the time. I would enjoy it. So, I decided to just go with the flow. What was the point of this new life if I didn't participate actively in it after all? In my past life I never felt like I lived my life in the fullest. I lived an average life, I had enough money from my family to live a comfortable childhood and for my Uni to be paid, I was pretty, was average in intelligence, was a major procrastinator and I preferred my books to people. I liked to think that I could live in one of the worlds I read about and it seemed that somehow that wistful thinking had come back to bite me in the ass. So I would live this life as I saw fit.

After a lot of thinking I also decided to become a shinobi.

Even though this was a job that required to kill and I knew that my morals would be tested I still couldn't resist to learn what was essentially ninja magic.

Though I wasn't that childish my decision also came from the fact that this world was bloody and being a civilian even in Konoha wouldn't be enough to survive. - I mean this place gets invaded twice in the future. It's kill or be killed. – And I wanted to at least reach the age of twenty-five this time.

My new world was full of death. So, I had to prepare and be the biggest badass in battle in order to survive.

Maybe I should become a main character. Don't they usually live longer? _Except if I was in the Games of Thrones_ _world_ …Thank the gods for small miracles. So, after some brain thinking I decided to observe for now, see if my family consisted of any shinobi, find out where I was in the timeline and if possible become a main character. Hmmm if I was around the rookie 9 ages I could take on Sakura's role. From what I had read of Sakura I didn't like her that much, she was annoying and for the most of the first part useless. That could work…

* * *

*1 No offence to any religion or religious person. This is just a fictional character and her opinion.


	2. Chapter 2- Development

**"You can start anew at any given moment. Life is just the passage of time and it's up to you to pass it as you please."**  
― _Charlotte Eriksson, You're Doing Just Fine_

* * *

 **Chapter 2**

After the realisation that I was now in the Naruto world, I started noticing things about my family that in hindsight would have given me a clue about where I was had I paid attention.

Both my parents wore their forehead protectors when they were about to go out and after almost a year in this life I finally found out my family's name.

It happened during grandfathers fourth visit. I was just toddling around the house and being a total menace to my poor mother when the front door opened and I was called to greet my grandfather.

The moment I saw him, I just wanted to groan.

Because guess who was wearing the Hokage robes?

You guessed right… Grandfather dear was.

Troublesome.

I starred at him for a moment and then decided that all the complicated thoughts would be held on for later.

Though I still had kept my bearings enough to decide to become grandpas' favourite.

I mean he was the Hokage.

Who wouldn't?

So, I ran to him. Gave him my most deathly puppy dog eyes and lifted my hands in the universal baby way that meant 'up'.

He laughed and said something that from what I could gather meant 'demanding little thing aren't you?'

In retaliation I pulled his beard.

Ah sweet baby revenge.

He stayed for an hour and then left. Probably to go back to battle his eternal rival.

Paperwork.

There was no fucking way I was becoming Hokage.

I would leave that to Naruto.

When I got back to my room I focused on the information that I gathered from the meeting.

My grandfather was Hokage. But the monument had four faces carved onto it.

Therefore, Minato was dead.

The kyuubi event had already happened.

I was born into the Sarutobi clan.

That was good that meant good genetics.

If all my family were ninja then I had more chakra than the average shinobi.

At least I thought so.

I would have to check it up later when I had the resources…

And I could actually read.

Damn you baby body.

Damn you.

And I was the Hokage's granddaughter.

Huge bonus.

That also meant that even if I showed myself to be a prodigy, which I had no doubt I would be regarded as I had no patience to hide my intelligence and I doubted that I could fool ninjas that were scrutinising me 24/7 anyway, there would be no Danzo demanding me to be inducted in Root.

Thank everything holy for that too.

Wait I was the Hokage's granddaughter. And I was pretty sure that other than Asuma, Hiruzen had one more child that was the parent of that brat Konohamaru.

I was pretty sure that I didn't have any siblings.

And Masato was my father, not Asuma.

That meant that I was born before Konohamaru, which led me to believe that I was very close to the Rookie 9 age.

That was good.

At least I had a good estimate of when I was born now.

I would have to start planning…

After I napped first.

* * *

My first birthday was when I found out the rest of the information that I needed.

I hadn't realised it was my birthday until the few guests had arrived.

I had just attributed my mother's overexciting babbling to one of her squealing moods.

That woman still surprised me with how she was like an overexcited bunny when it was just us and father and how refined and graceful she was in front of others.

Members of the clan came and went inside the house.

They picked me up gave their blessing, squeezed my cheeks and left.

Grandfather even came for a while and gave me a book and some toy kunai.

Well I had a feeling that someone was trying to influence me.

Note sarcasm please.

But it wasn't the presents nor the blatant attempt to influence me into becoming a child soldier that gave me the last clue of where I was in the timeline.

It was a woman with feral eyes and spikey hair that came in with a small child clinging to her and a massive dog following right behind her.

Inuzuka Tsume and baby Kiba, whom I later found out was four months older than me.

First objective achieved.

I toddled to them and Tsume let baby Kiba down.

And oh my God.

Wait should I say god in this universe?

Well food for thought.

Never mind, he was adorable.

Like cute as a button.

And he was shy too.

He was looking at the floor and holding on to his mother's pants, much to her amusement.

I threw propriety into the winds- ah the benefits of youth- and glomped Kiba much to his shock.

I took his hand and introduced myself.

'I' am Sorami', I said with as much enthusiasm as I could muster.

He blushed and muttered 'I am Kiba'.

My excitement at finding out where I was made much more talkative that I would be otherwise, as I took him by the hand and led him to a table to draw.

Little by little he seemed to have lost his shyness and he seemed to become the hyperactive kid I knew he'd be in the future.

By the end of the party we were both passed out on the couch, much to our parent's entertainment.

Note to self Kiba is a cuddler.

* * *

After that I continued developing in fast paces.

I finally managed to walk properly without falling on my ass every three steps.

I learned how to read while sitting on my mother's lap.

I put my all in to it, much to her surprise and I studied hard.

Through books I would be able to gather information about this world, so it was on the top of my priority list.

My father though was the one that taught me to write much to my surprise.

He wasn't home as often as mother was and I had a feeling that he was in Anbu.

But that didn't mean that I didn't love him.

He was a very intelligent and calm man that was a bit of an inner dork.

And his presence was very soothing to me.

He was a very good teacher but Japanese was a pain in the ass.

I mean katakana and hiragana. Ok cool but kanji.

Kanji could seriously go fuck itself.

I mean I was ready to tear my bloody hair out.

Needless to say, I threw a lot of temper tantrums during those lessons.

It really exasperated father.

Grandpa visited again and read me the book he bought me for my birthday.

Turns out it was the _Tales of a Gutsy Ninja._

How cliché was that?

Like really?

Turns out it was a really fun book.

Maybe I should read Icha Icha when I'm older if Jiraiya was such a good writer.

I could be Kakashi 2.0.

Eh I would revisit that though later in life.

By the time I was two I was able to speak in complete sentences and I could read a bit. Not much mind you but it was progress.

It was around that time that I finally decided to look for my chakra.

Despite my curiosity I didn't try it before because I was afraid that I was too young and that I would somehow screw up and end up with chakra exhaustion.

But I thought it was time.

I decided to take a page out of all the fanfics I read in my previous life.

Most of the original characters that got reincarnated in Naruto meditated to find their chakra.

So that was what I did.

It took me five days to actually meditate and not (a) fall asleep or (b) lose focus and start thinking about random stuff.

It took me another day of meditating to actually detect my chakra.

It felt like it was flowing through me.

It was weird but also familiar feeling it.

Like a warm breeze that I couldn't get a hold of.

I had lived a life without it so it took me some time to get used to it.

But it wasn't difficult to get accustomed to it.

In all actuality it was very relaxing just sitting around and feeling my chakra.

After that it wasn't so rare for me to do that in order to relax.

It also seemed that the moment I took notice of my chakra I became subconsciously aware of it at all times and I started being more sensitive to other people's chakra as well.

I had a feeling it had something to do with the fact that I was reborn and that the lack of chakra and memories of any familiar feeling in my past life made me much more sensitive to this somewhat foreign energy whether it was inside of or outside of me.

The moment I took notice of its existence and actually felt I became hyperaware of it.

Why it didn't happen before?

I guess that it was probably natural for my new body to draw on it subconsciously without me noticing it, so I didn't feel any differently until I actually seeked my chakra.

Not that I was complaining.

Chakra sensing was a huge bonus.

And it helped me win in hide and seek too.

Furthermore, exploring my chakra gave me the courage to try some chakra control exercises.

I tried the leaf one at first but with paper. As it was a much easier to find resource.

It took two weeks, a lot of swearing, a lot of spectacular failures and a mild chakra exhaustion that made me sleep for a day and my mother to worry endlessly but in the end, I prevailed. I actually succeeded when I decided to try to direct my chakra instead of trying to control it as I was doing till then.

I managed to stick a piece of paper on my forehead.

Later on, I would continue to stick on me everything I could find.

I didn't even dare to think to try tree walking.

I would probably die of chakra exhaustion.

And I liked myself very much alive thank you very much.

At three my reading progress had come far from what it was at the beginning.

I could read basic story books on my own and my writing while not as good as my reading was advanced for my age.

It was around that time that mother also started me on basic stretches every morning before breakfast.

It wasn't anything difficult just basic exercises to improve flexibility, though little by little the became a little more physically demanding.

It was around that age that I met my uncle for the first time.

Well at least when I was conscious.

He was there for my birth.

Why he didn't visit me before that age?

Well that was a combination of mission overload after the nine tails attack and Asuma's natural avoidance of children.

He deemed that at three years old I was intelligent enough not to pee on him and annoy him with crying all the time.

He came in the house for dinner one day and we were introduced to each other.

'Yo kiddo' he said in a bored tone. 'I am your uncle Asuma'.

My response to that?

'I am Sorami'. I paused. 'And you stink of smoke'.

He cracked a smile and laughed then.

'I think we are going to get along great brat'.

After that we became very fond of each other.

He even visited once a week.

He was like the cool uncle type that everyone wanted to have.

Laid back and with a nice sense of humour.

And he spoke to me like the intelligent being he knew I was.

He got brownie points for that.

Suffice to say I adored my uncle and I swore that the Jashin dude would die before he got the chance to even look at Asuma.

That was a promise.

Time passed on and I reached five years old.

At that age I was finally able to read and write properly.

And I took advantage of the fact whole heartedly.

I read everything I could get my hands on.

From history to children's stories to folklore, I even raided my grandfather's library under his watchful eye.

I had gathered the reputation of a bookworm from my clan.

Though they also took note of my advanced intelligence.

And thus, the Sarutobi prodigy was born.

Not that I had a problem with that at least my family talked to me like if not an adult at least an intelligent minor.

The lack of baby talk was very relieving.

And it wasn't like I wanted to graduate early. It would be much better to cultivate my skill as much as I could before going into action and also being into the same class as the rookie nine was the best place to influence the plot.

I also got to see Kiba a couple more times through the years as Tsume and my mother turned out to be rather good friends.

He was still an adorable ball of fluff.

And one of the best teddies during nap time.

I was also deemed old enough to go outside on my own.

Parenting in this world was a bewildering matter at least in ninja clans.

I mean who would let a five-year-old outside on its own?

Or the fact that I very often found weapons around the house.

In a house with a toddler.

Anyway.

Not that I really believed that I was on my own.

I was the Hokage's granddaughter and heiress of the Sarutobi Clan.

I would have been surprised if there weren't any Anbu following me around.

And there was as I could detect their chakra following me around.

It was mostly the same person from what I could gather and I had a feeling that they knew that I knew that they were there. Not that there was any sign of that. But it was just a feeling.

This was how I got familiarized with the village.

Which probably shouldn't be called a village as it was the size of a small city.

It was during an afternoon when I came home from a walk that my parents asked me the question.

Did I want to become a ninja?

My respect for them rose then in new heights, as they gave me a choice and didn't force me into doing anything I didn't want to do. They also asked me the question in an age that I could probably understand what they meant.

Not that I was supposed to understand that I would have to murder people and lead a life of killing but at least I knew what a ninja was.

Grandfather was the one to explain it to me earlier that year.

He gave me the idealistic but also simplistic version by saying that a shinobi's duty was to protect the village and its people.

He also noted that as the Hokage his job was to protect and lead everyone.

I didn't make my parents wait for long.

I answered with a determined yes.

My parents smiled at my answer then.

Though I couldn't help but notice that there was a bit of sadness in their faces as well.

It was good to see that they cared.

It was decided that I would start learning basic ninja skills then.

And to my surprise it was uncle Asuma that would be the one teaching me.

Usually he didn't bother with things that he didn't have to.

I wanted to laugh evilly then.

I had him wrapped around my little finger.

One step closer to world domination.

Ahem. Kidding.

Anyhow, I continued with my morning stretches with mother but the rest of my shinobi education was taken by my uncle.

He was actually a very good teacher.

Though I think he got sadistic pleasure from torturing me through exercise.

I mean he made me run laps in one of the clan's training grounds, while he sat down and enjoyed a drink.

The bastard.

In addition to that he made me do sit ups, push ups and all these muscle building exercises that led to me want to collapse from exhaustion.

Every muscle in my body hurt.

I even found out that I could ache at places I'd never thought of before.

Like my armpits.

Like what.

After two months of doing that the sadist showed me some basic katas.

It was decided that it would be better to focus on speed and hitting hard in places that would hurt, as I was still very short.

I quite liked those lessons.

There was something about the repetitive moments that calmed me and strangely enough reminded me of dancing.

When I had the basics down he instructed me into finding my chakra.

I thought it best to pretend I didn't know how.

After an hour of 'searching' I found it and I described it to my uncle.

I also decided that I should tell him about being able to feel the chakra of the people around me.

Needless to say, he was surprised.

He added hide and seek ninja style in my schedule then.

He would hide and conceal his chakra and I would have to find him. It was fun and I could tell that I had impressed me with my skill.

I absorbed the praise like a sponge.

I liked being complimented.

Sue me.

And then he made me do chakra control exercises.

He was once again amazed when I got the leaf sticking exercise in an hour and I did feel like a cheat a bit but I did work my ass off to accomplish that so the feelings didn't stay for that long.

Generally, my schedule was packed.

I did the morning stretches with my mother. Then I had to do the physical conditioning programme that Asuma gave me.

After that it was writing with father.

Then chakra control and katas with Asuma.

At the end of each day I would more or less pass out.

It was at the end of the year that my programme was disturbed.

My uncle got in a big fight with grandfather and much to my dismay decided to leave and become one of the Twelve Guardian Ninja.

It was pointless to say that I didn't throw the biggest tantrum as of yet the moment he came to tell us the news.

My child's mind prompted me to react as any other my age could.

I cried and screamed and clang to Asuma like a koala.

It was easy to see that my reaction distressed him but I didn't care I loved my uncle and I didn't want him to leave.

Regardless of the fact that I knew that he would be back in at least six years' time.

He tried to soothe me and after an hour I was calm enough to listen to him.

I made him promise that he'd be back and that he would teach more stuff the moment he stepped a foot in the village.

He smiled, gave me a kiss on the forehead and then left.

I was depressed for a week after that and then mother called me to the living room one day and told me that they had hired a tutor for me. As she wouldn't be able to as she started going on missions again.

I wasn't happy at all.

And then Ebisu was introduced.

I was not impressed.

I was not impressed at all.

For the first days of our lessons I admit that I was acting like a complete brat.

But my best description for him was pompous wanker and I missed Asuma a lot.

But I knew that if I wanted to become a badass ninja I would have to let me teach me so I put my grievances aside and became a bit more civilized towards him.

As time moved on it wasn't as difficult as it used to be to tolerate Ebisu and his haughty ways.

He was a very good and thorough teacher.

And the basics that he taught me were the foundation of all shinobi skills, so even if he wasn't as cool as Asuma we managed to develop a respectful partnership.

He even started me on tree walking.

And he also helped me find some beginners medical and anatomy books, after I explained to him that I had an interest in knowing some basic medical skills and that the anatomy books would help me with my fighting style.

I would go for quick movements and brutal aiming in vulnerable spots.

He was very supportive to my goal.

As were my parents.

Mother's eyes shone vindictively when I told her about it.

I decided to stay ignorant as to why.

It would be better for my mental health.

Months passed and I turned six.

It was time to join the academy.

Oh joy.

* * *

 **A/N: Chapter 2 is finally done.**

 **Hope you enjoy.**

 **xoxo**


	3. Chapter 3- Academy Part 1

**We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures.** -Thornton Wilder

* * *

 **Chapter 3**

The morning of the first day of the academy started just like any other, with my mother trying and failing to wake me up in the ungodly hour of seven o clock.

Let's just say that I was definitely not a morning person.

Waking up before ten was a huge struggle for me.

'Come on honey. Rise and shine. It's your first day in the academy.'

I ignored her.

She shook me.

'Wake up now'.

I groaned and rolled on my other side.

She pulled on my blankets.

I hugged my pillow close.

So, she decided to pull the ultimate weapon.

'Sora-chan wake up or your bento will be missing its dango', she threatened.

'You wouldn't' I gasped.

'Try me' she said in a smug voice.

She knew she'd won.

That bitch.

I was reluctantly impressed.

Touché mother. Touché.

'You are a cruel woman' I said as I started stretching.

'I know' she teased. 'Now get up and get ready for the academy. There is breakfast in the kitchen.'

I nodded absentmindedly and walked in the bathroom to wash up.

Ten minutes later I was putting on my clothes.

They were a pair of black shorts and a sky-blue battle cheongsam that reached to my knees. I put on my blues ninja sandals and my outfit was ready.

I looked myself in the mirror as I tied my hair in a half bun with a clip.

Raven black hair that reached my collarbones, inherited by my mother and large dark blue eyes from my father.

A small button nose, creamy skin and a slender figure.

Sometimes when I looked at my reflection I still expected to see honey blond hair and Mediterranean colours. But those thoughts passed quickly.

This was me now.

Though it still surprised me that my eyes were the exact same as they were in my last life.

Who knew? They were right when they said that the eyes are the window to the soul.

I finished getting ready, grabbed my bag and headed to the kitchen.

Dad was on a mission though he wished me good luck before he left, so mom would be the one to accompany me to the academy today.

I ate my breakfast and then went to find my mother as it was time to leave if I wanted to reach the academy on time.

Our home was a twenty-minute walk distance from the academy.

The academy was located at the base of the Hokage Mountain. Along with it being a school it was also where the Hokage's office is located, which is where the missions are dispatched.

The Admission Requirements were supposed to be three:

Love the village and hope to help preserve peace and prosperity.

Have a mind that will not yield, able to endure hard training and work.

Be healthy in mind and body.

But that was more for the propaganda and the whole 'Will of Fire' theme that they had going. Actually, if you were civilian born you got admitted only if you passed the required physical exam.

Now that it was time of peace and early graduations weren't required the age of graduation was at age twelve and the age of admission was at six years old.

What wasn't often told was that the first two years were more theoretical with the addition of taijutsu practice and that in those two years many of the candidates especially those from a civilian background were dropped out of the program when they didn't meet the requirements to continue.

I was shaken out of my thoughts when I saw the building come in view.

When we got there, we received my programme from the main office and then sat down for the introduction ceremony in which grandpa gave a speech about the will of fire and whatnot.

I didn't really pay it any attention as I was on the verge of falling asleep.

Mom stayed till it finished, then she kissed me on the forehead, wished me good luck and left.

After that teachers started calling the students names to follow them into the classroom.

From what I gathered there were four in total for each year.

The first teacher finished and led his group in the building.

Then it was Iruka-sensei's turn.

'Class 1B. Aburame Shino…' he continued calling names most of them those of the future Rookie 9 or at least their names were the ones that I focused on.

'…Sarutobi Sorami…'

I smiled to myself satisfied and headed to where the others were headed.

'…And Yamanaka Ino. Ok follow me.'

And like the good ducklings that we were we did just that.

The classroom was large and had high ceilings. On a wall was a blackboard and in front of it was situated a podium. It was far from the student's desks and was in a position where the teacher could everyone at once.

'Ok children find seats and then we'll get started.'

Before I could even make a move, there were hands around me, followed by a loud

'Sora – chan', that I could recognize everywhere.

I turned around and threw my hands around him while being mindful of the small ball of fluff on the boy's front pocket.

'Ki-chan' I replied happily.

I then petted the little fluffer '…and Akamaru of course.'

Kiba just got him last month and he was adorable.

'Come on' Kiba said as he took my hand and he led me on the back of the class next to the window.

He took the seat next to the window and I sat next to him.

The desks fit three people and they were four in five rows.

'Are you excited Sora-chan?' Kiba asked as he bounced around in his seat.

I was interrupted from answering by a monotone voice.

'Do you mind if I sit next to you?' asked the voice of a young Aburame Shino.

Though he hid it quite well I was able to detect a bit of nervousness in his voice and if I could then Kiba could definitely smell it what with his super sense of smell.

I gave him a kind smile and replied to him.

'Of course, you can. I am Sarutobi Sorami and this is my friend Inuzuka Kiba and his partner Akamaru.'

He gave me a nod in thanks and sat down.

'I am Aburame Shino. I am pleased to make your acquaintance.'

Before I could be able to say anything else Iruka-sensei started talking.

It was merely introductory. He told us what to expect, made sure that all of us had their books and listed the rules.

Some paid attention and some well not.

A great example of the latter was Shikamaru, whom I noticed the first five minutes in class as he sat on the desk next to us with Choji.

He was sleeping.

I was actually quite jealous.

But I endured I shouldn't sleep on the very first day.

Maybe the second.

Hmm. Tempting. Very tempting.

The bell for lunch rang and Iruka-sensei let us go after he reminded us that there would be written test after lunch in order to see where we were in knowledge.

I stood up took Kiba by the hand and invited Shino to come sit with us if he wanted.

He looked surprised for a moment but he readily accepted.

We went outside and decided to sit down on the grass in the shade of a huge tree.

We ate while making conversation.

Well Kiba and I spoke and with some prompting Shino did say some words.

It wasn't that he was shy it was just that he was socially awkward but I thought that with time he would get better.

Forty minutes later the bell rang for us to go back inside.

We sat down on our desk and Iruka-sensei handed out the tests.

They weren't anything too difficult.

Some basic language related questions, though no kanji, that would be taught in the Academy, some basic mathematics, history and geography questions.

After I finished I gave Iruka-sensei my test and pulled out an anatomy book that I was half way through and read until the time was over.

Overall the first day of school was very underwhelming.

I mean it was ninja school dammit shouldn't it be more fun?

It seemed that everywhere you went school was as boring as ever.

Oh well I had my self-study.

Now that I had school from Monday to Friday my schedule would change accordingly. My lessons with Ebisu moved to thrice a week. On Wednesday afternoons and during the weekend.

My physical training would continue every day for two hours and the rest of the time would be left for homework, self-study and medical training.

The next day in the Academy we had our physical training.

We had to run laps do some exercises and ran an obstacle course.

I was surprised to note that I finished third. The first of the girls and third overall after Uchiha Sasuke and Kiba.

I hadn't expected that.

It meant that I was improving.

I couldn't help but smile at that.

Though I wanted to be first.

I did have a competitive streak after all.

Well then, more training.

After that it was lunch again and I sat on the same spot with Shino.

Kiba had scoffed down his lunch and then went to join some of the other kids in playing ninja.

I declined as playing ninja really wasn't my cup of tea.

As did Shino.

I took out my medicine book and I started reading.

It seemed that Shino also took of note of that as he asked me about it.

He took the initiative to start a conversation.

That's what we call progress.

I was so proud.

'Sarutobi-san are you interested in becoming a medic nin?'

'Call me Sorami or Sora Aburame-san. We are friends after all.'

That seemed to shock him but then he gave a pleased hum.

'Only if you call me Shino, Sorami-san.'

I smiled and continued 'And as for your question, I don't want to be a medic nin but I do want to learn some basic healing. I am of the opinion that every team should have at least one person that knows at least some basic healing jutsu. And anatomy is also very useful for taijutsu. If you know where to hit you can cause double the damage.'

He seemed interested in that so for the rest of the break we discussed various healing methods and various pressure points on the human body.

After lunch there were taijutsu spars.

You could definitely see the difference between the civilian raised and those with shinobi parents.

The first ones didn't have any training so their fights were more like brawls.

There was even a notable example of a pair of civilian girls that somehow ended up in a slap fight.

There was even hair pulling.

It was freaking hilarious.

Anyway, I was put against Sakura.

I had reached the point that I was no longer surprised when I met characters from the show. After learning that the Hokage was my grandfather everything else just seemed irrelevant.

Back to the fight, needless to say in two moves I had her out of the ring.

I also finally saw the protagonist.

Till then I hadn't seen not heard of him which I had found odd as I was expecting to be blinded by kill me orang and to hear dattabeyos left and right.

It would seem that Naruto though wasn't in that stage of his life yet as he was wearing a white t-shirt and black shorts.

He was put against Kiba who won easily.

Huh I would have expected him to be put against Sasuke what with the plot and all.

Another entertaining fight was Shikamaru's against Shino.

Or more accurately the lack of it.

The moment Iruka-sensei told them to start Shikamaru put his hands in the air and said in a drawl:

'I forfeit. I would have to use too much energy.'

He then took ten steps, laid down and fell asleep, much to Iruka's dismay.

Shino then fought against Hinata, who lost due to the fact that she was forbidden by the rules to use the gentle fist.

In the end Shino lost to me and Kiba to Sasuke and later on I lost to Sasuke.

Generally, I was satisfied with my scores.

And I would be even more the next day when on the bullet board at the entrance of the academy there would be the year's rankings from all four classes.

I was the no 1 kunoichi and Sasuke the no 1 shinobi, while overall, I was better than him at the theoretical and he was better at the practical.

Now I only had to keep those scores.

* * *

It was a month after I had started school and my training was progressing nicely.

Ebisu had started me on kunai throwing and on water walking as I had finally perfected tree walking.

Kunai throwing while fun had been a pain in the ass at first as I couldn't hit the target for the first day and when I did hit it wasn't hard enough for it to stick.

I worked my skinny little behinds in order to become good at it.

As for water walking let's just say that I took lots and lots of baths and leave it at that.

Medical studying was going well and whenever dad was home we played strategic and tactical games like shogi and Go.

I wasn't that bad at it after I' d played long enough to familiarize myself with them and learn the rules but I didn't excel at them.

It did hurt my ego but with each game I was able to last a bit longer.

Ok seconds longer but details.

It was during a calm evening that I was playing a game of shogi with dad when mother came in the living room.

'Dear we should clean the storage room' she said to my father.

'Hm yes. Why?' he asked in a bored voice. It was obvious he wasn't really paying attention to what she was saying as he was more focused on our game.

'Well the baby has to have a room doesn't it' she said in a matter of fact tone.

'Yes of course the baby… THE BABY?' father shouted at the same moment I was asking 'What baby?'.

'Well I am two months pregnant. So, our baby. Your new sibling Sora-chan' mom said teasingly.

And that was how I learned that I would be having a baby brother.

I couldn't say that I wasn't excited about it.

I always wanted to have a little minion… ahem I meant sibling to look after.

That night I also wrote down in a mix of English, French and Greek the most important events I could remember from the show that were actually canon and not fanfic related.

The Uchiha Massacre, which I really doubted I could be able to anything about. I mean even though I was the Hokage's granddaughter or Honourable granddaughter as that wanker Ebisu insisted on calling me -though I did have a feeling that he continued calling me that despite my protests for his own sadistic purpose- I still couldn't go to grandfather and tell him that I knew the future.

I liked my mind not mind raped thank you very much.

Maybe it was egoistical of me but I was under no misconception that if anyone found out about my previous life I would become a lab rat.

Therefore, no I would not reveal my foreknowledge to anyone but I would try to change what I could if it was within my influence.

I would feel guilt for a while but I would get over it.

At least I hoped so.

Then it was Orochimaru's invasion. Sasuke getting the cursed mark. Grandfather's death that would not happen on my watch. Akatsuki. Asuma's death- again not on my watch. Pain's invasion- this place does get run down a lot huh. The fourth great war.

Now major players were Tobito. The Akatsuki. Orochimaru. Kabuto. And the plant zombie thing whose name I could not recall.

I decided to start planning and seeing what I could do about any of these things one step at a time.

* * *

I was at grandpa's office and we were playing shogi.

I was playing because I had made it my goal to finally beat my bastard of a father at the damn thing and as they say practise makes perfect and my grandfather officially was spending time with his granddaughter. Unofficially he was avoiding doing his paperwork.

I broke the comfortable silence between us when I remembered a question I had.

'Ojiisan do you know someone at the hospital that can teach me some basic healing jutsu? I finished all the theoretical work.' My fast comprehension of the medical subject could be attributed to my previous' life father. He was a doctor and even though I didn't follow him in his field of expertise I was still interested in the subject. Basic anatomy was the same and a lot of medical plants had the same uses. So, some things I already knew, so I had a head start. It was when chakra was added that I had to learn everything anew.

'That's very impressive Sora-chan. I find your goal to gain some medical skill beyond basic first aid very honourable. And it will help you immensely when you join a team. Hmm Saito Akira was a good friend of your late grandmother and a skilful medic nin. Go to the hospital and ask for her and she'll give some help.'

That was how the next day I ended up in the hospital and asked for Saito Akira.

I waited until an elderly voice addressed me.

'How can I help you dear. They told me that you asked for me?'

She was a short woman around the age of sixty with grey hair tied in a tight bun and kind warm eyes.

'Eh yes.' I said suddenly a bit shy.

'I am Sarutobi Sorami and grandfather send me to you when I asked if he knew anyone that could teach me some basic medical ninjutsu. If you don't have the time or are not able I don't mind. I wouldn't want to be a bother' I babbled.

She looked at me with an interested gleam in her eyes.

'Biwako's granddaughter eh? I don't mind dear. It's good to see young people interested in the medical arts. I am Saito Akira as you already know and I'll teach you after you answer my question. Why are you interested in learning medical ninjutsu?'

I swallowed 'Well I' am not planning in becoming a medical ninja. I prefer to be more than just support for my future team. That doesn't mean though that I can't also have the skills of a support ninja if the situation needs me to be. I want to learn medical ninjutsu to be able to heal myself and my future teammates as I am of the opinion that if every team had a person that knew at least some basic medical aid like closing open woods and healing bones a lot lives could be saved' I explained.

I knew that I said something right when I saw the satisfied look on her face.

'Ok dear you'll call me Akira-sensei. Walk with me. What is your knowledge in regards to medicine and anatomy?'

And that was how every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon for the coming years I would be found in the hospital trailing after Akira-sensei.'

* * *

After the hundredth time I lost to my father in shogi I decided to take matters in my own hands.

In my last life I was very good at chess and these repetitive loses were hurting my ego.

There were also not enough training buddies to practise.

Mother didn't really care for the game, grandpa was busy and most people in the clan were merely acquaintances as the closer on to my age was already fifteen.

So drastic meters had to be taken.

And that was how I found myself with Shino by my side during lunch in front of the dozing form of one Nara Shikamaru.

'Nara-san'.

He opened one eye and looked at me, while Choji watched our interaction from his side.

'Yes?' he drawled.

'I am in need of your assistance.'

His other eye opened now and he lifted his hand in the go on motion.

I called it progress.

'Your clan is famous for your minds and your tactical skills. I am a rather competitive person and for the last months I have lost to my father to every bloody shogi game we played. I am in need for a good partner to exercise my skills. Would you mind if we played a game once in a while?'

He sat up the moment he heard shogi.

'Troublesome. I wouldn't mind' he said in a bored voice.

Hook, line and sinker.

Score for me.

'Perfect. Thank you Nara-san' I said as I took a shogi board out of my bag.

'Call me Shikamaru' he said.

'Only if you call me Sorami, Shikamaru-san.

* * *

Time moved on.

My mother got bigger and bigger and her hormones turned her into a beast.

Poor dad was usually the victim of her temper though.

But well… better him than me.

I perfected water walking and my kunai aim was above average.

Shuriken throwing started out much worse than kunai throwing.

I didn't think that I would be anything but average at it but even average seemed far away to me honestly.

Akira-sensei had taught me my first medical jutsu.

The diagnostic jutsu, which gave the user a scan of the patient's body and the damage that can be found within it.

She also taught me advanced first aid for time where I might be out of chakra.

I really enjoyed her lessons as she made everything very enjoyable.

Especially when she gave me theoretical problems to solve.

Though she was a harsh taskmaster. I mean most of my homework was from her.

That old hag.

I loved her really.

I continued playing shogi with Shikamaru during lunch and even though I lost I managed to hold my own against him longer every time.

Through these meetings we also became tentative friends and through association with him with Choli too.

The adorable cinnamon roll.

I also decided to continue my chakra training through the game that I use to play with Asuma.

Hide and seek senor style.

For that I decided to ask help from an unlikely source.

I was walking home from school one afternoon trying to figure out how to practise my chakra sensing when I felt the familiar feeling of Anbu following behind me.

I had a feeling that even though he knew that I knew that he was following me that he lacked the knowledge of my sensory abilities. Therefore, he didn't really try to hide his chakra that much.

In that moment a ludicrous idea came to me and without even thinking about it I spoke seemingly in thin air.

'Anbu-san? I have a request of you. I am a chakra sensor you see and I would like to practise my abilities with you if you don't mind. Would you mind if you could conceal little by little your chakra and then move around me a bit and I would have to guess where you are. If you agree flare your chakra once. If you decline twice.'

I waited for several moments and then I felt one flare.

And that was how I ended up playing the advance version of hide and seek with my Anbu guard.

* * *

It was during October the 30th that I was woken at three am in the morning from my mother's scream and my father's cursing.

I burst into my parent's room, panicked and ready for everything.

'What happened?'

'My water broke' mom said calmly, while father ran around the room muttering to himself and running his hands through his hair.

'What am I doing. Fuck. Fuck …'

I kicked him on the shin hard.

'Get it together tochan. We have to get mother to the hospital. I am packing some of her things and then we're leaving' I ordered.

Dad just nodded.

He had his orders. Every ninja knew how to follow orders even in moments of distress. Especially in moments of distress.

(Good old conditioning. Had its uses in the most unexpected times.)

Four hours later I was sitting in the waiting room half asleep waiting for my future baby brother to be born when grandpa came.'

'Ojiisan' I said and hugged him. He sat down next to me and let me sit on his lap.

'How are they doing?'

'Momma was much calmer than father would ever hope to be. And father was fine after he stopped panicking' I explained much to my grandfather's amusement.

I talked with my grandfather as we waited, describing to him my academy friends and my improvement in the medical arts and then napped a few times until finally five hours later my father came outside with a big smile on his face.

'Come on Sora-chan, father. Come and meet the new member of the family.'

We got in the room and saw my glowing mother holding my tiny brother who was wrapped in a blue blanket.

I looked at him.

He was ugly.

Like a raisin actually.

I loved him anyways.

'Do you want to hold him Sora-chan?' my mother asked gently.

I nodded and with shaky hands I took him in my arms.

'Hi otouto. I promise you I'll be the best older sister ever and utterly destroy anyone who dare to hurt you.' I whispered to my little brother.

Oh gods/kami was this how Itachi felt?

Huh I could understand him a bit better now.

From behind me I heard my grandfather ask:

'How will you call him?'

'We are a bit stuck father, the name we picked beforehand just doesn't feel right' father answered.

'Hmm how about Konohamaru, after our village?' grandfather suggested.

My parents' eyes met and then they nodded in unison.

'I like it' mom said. 'Konohamaru it is.'

* * *

A/N: Two updates in two days. I am very proud of myself.

Thanks to anyone who has reviewed, followed or favorited my story.

Hope you enjoy.

P.S Please review. (puppy eyes)

xoxo


	4. Chapter 4- Academy Part 2

**-Tragedy makes you grow up-**

-Jane Campion

 **Chapter 4**

The new addition to our family, while the most adorable baby ever if you ask my own humble opinion, turned out to have some bloody strong lungs to him.

I mean I love my brother to bits but he cried all the bloody time.

In comparison to him I might have been an angel by my parents' standards.

It was during the winter break, a couple of months after Konohamaru had been born that I had escaped from his wailing cries at home to find some peace and quiet outside.

I was walking around the outskirts of the village towards the more forestry areas where most of the training grounds were located, with my usual Anbu escort following right behind, that I came across Hatake Kakashi sprawled on the ground with his back on a tree and bleeding from his stomach.

I examined his unconscious form for a moment and then deliberately made as much noise as I could while I headed to his side in very slow steps. It wouldn't be good for me to startle a wounded Jounin, he would probably go for the kill first and ask questions later. And that would be a horrible situation.

As I came nearer his body grew tense and he opened his one eye to look at me.

It was quite creepy. It felt like he saw right through me and I did not like that feeling. At all.

'Shinobi-san?' I asked. I decided not to ask if he was ok as the answer was obvious and went with my usual bland approach.

'You are wounded. Would you like some help to get to the hospital?'

I waited for his answer. He starred at me.

I lifted my eyebrow at him. Inner me was quite proud of this ability, my past self was never able to do the gesture.

He eye smiled at me.

'Ma I'm good there is no need to go the hospital.'

'You are bleeding from your stomach and are on the verge of unconsciousness' I deadpanned.

'I am just resting' he insisted.

I glared at him.

'Shinobi-san I will give you three options as it is obvious that you will not listen to me. Option no 1 you let me take you to the hospital. Option no 2 you let me at least patch you up as I know basic medical aid. Option no3 is were you refuse no 1 and 2 and I make my grandfather order you to show up to the hospital every time after a mission for a check-up. And by the way my name is Sarutobi Sorami and my grandfather is the Hokage. Now what will you do?'

He starred at me.

'You wouldn't do it' he challenged.

'Try me'.

He glared at me.

I smiler serenely back at him.

'I am waiting' I singsonged.

'Fine. Option 2. You devil child.' he muttered sullenly.

I could feel my Anbu's amusement about the situation through his chakra. Another surprise that came from my chakra sensing. The more familiar I was with someone's chakra the more details I could detect from it. If I studied someone's chakra I could get the general feel for it and by that his chakra nature would also be clear. If I became more familiar to them and their chakra then I could also gain somewhat empathetic abilities by being able to know their most prominent emotions at that moment.

'Ok then. I am taking you home with me where I have my supplies. Crow-san can you help me carry him home?'

In response my guard appeared and with my help lifted Kakashi up and then put his arm over his shoulder.

Kakashi didn't seem surprised to see crow so that meant he'd probably already knew he was there.

Crow started walking while carrying half of Kakashi's weight towards my home while I followed right behind.

I had found out my Anbu's code name after the many times we played Hide and Seek Sensor Edition and I was able to look at his mask clearly. Though at the beginning I made fun of him by calling him birdie-san. Until he got annoyed enough to break protocol and mutter an annoyed crow at me.

I was very proud for my ability to break his composure.

Back to the present I looked at the tired form of Kakashi and I realized I hadn't asked his name.

'Shinobi-san what is your name if you don't mind me asking?'

'Hatake Kakashi' he answered reluctantly.

'Eh the Hatake Kakashi? The guy who is always late and always carries a perverted book everywhere he goes?' I asked with feigned surprise.

He looked at me in surprise. He hadn't been expecting that clearly.

'How do you know that?'

'Uncle Asuma used to complain about you before he left' I answered and it was actually true. 'And you didn't deny either claim' I noted.

He just eye smiled me in response.

We got in the compound, passed the bewildered gate guard and headed to my house.

I made Crow to lay him on the couch and went to gather my fist aid kit, some wet towels and get him a glass of water. Mom had left a note that she took Maru-chan to visit a cousin and dad was on a mission.

I went back to the living room where Kakashi was and offered him the glass.

He just looked at me.

'I'll turn around and won't look and when you finish you tell me ok?' I asked as I finally understood his problem.

Crow was just outside the house. Ready to be called if needed.

After a minute I heard a quiet 'done' and turned around.

I took the glass from him and got to work.

I cast a diagnostic jutsu on him and took in the damage.

I could tell that I had surprised him with my ability to do that. He hadn't expected that he was probably just humouring me till now.

'Tch just resting my ass. You got a five inches deep cut on your stomach, a sprained ankle, some bruising and mild chakra exhaustion' I listed.

I made him open his Jounin vest and take off his shirt but otherwise did not take any of his weapon pouches even if that would make him feel more comfortable. I took a moment to acknowledge that he was a fine specimen of a man and then got to work.

I took a towel and cleaned the blood of his torso and tried not to pay attention to the fact that he was intently watching me.

I took a breath and focused. I had just learned this particular technique last month so I had to be careful. After all the Mystical Palm Technique was an A- rank for a reason.

'Shosen Jutsu'. After I was sure that the amount of chakra I was using was appropriate I brought my hand to his stomach wound and started closing it inch by inch.

It took me five minutes but his wound was done. After that I dealt with his bruises and did what I could for his ankle. I could only use the Mystical Palm Technique for bruises and cuts for the moment, broken bones and internal damage was still out of my capabilities.

His ankle was sprained not broken but I still only managed to reduce the swelling some. I started bandaging it and at the same time explained to him what I did.

'Ok. I've dealt with the stomach wound and the bruising. I only managed to reduce some of the swelling on your ankle as I am not that good with bones yet. You should ice it when you get home and not stress it. For your chakra exhaustion there is not something I can do. You just have to rest and eat lots of protein to gain strength. Now lay down and nap or just relax for as long as you need and I'll bring you something to eat' I told him.

I looked up when I finished bandaging his ankle and saw him looking at me intently.

I lifted an eyebrow at him.

'Ma such good nurse you are devil child. How old are you by the way?'

'I am seven.'

His eye widened at that for a moment but then the expression fled from his face in seconds, so maybe I imagined it.

'Now stay' I ordered. 'I'll be back.'

I came back fifteen minutes later to his still conscious form and brought him some onigiri and some grilled fish that my mother had made for lunch.

I glared at him 'eat'.

He eye smiled at me.

I huffed and then took my medical supplies back to my room in order to give him some privacy.

Twenty minutes later I came back to a vacant room, an empty plate and an open window.

I huffed and snorted in disbelief.

I really should have expected that.

What I hadn't expected was me becoming Kakashi's go to when he was injured and wanted to avoid the hospital. Apparently, I was the better alternative even if I was a devil child as he called me.

Though I wouldn't discover that until some months later when I would meet him for a second time. 

* * *

It was during a calm Monday evening four months after Konohamaru was born that my mother sat me down and informed me of the history of the clan that she came from. The Ota clan.

'The Ota clan was never big in numbers. We were a minor clan that had some samurai origins and somehow evolved through the years to become a ninja clan with a very specific skillset: assassination. Our renowned ability was our use of Kenjutsu due to our samurai past. Though we did use some lethal poisons too when the situation called for it. We were very good at what we did and that made us feared and also led to our extinction what with me being the last of our clan. Now honey you are seven years old and a very intelligent child to boot. I think you are old and mature enough for me to teach you my skills as an assassin starting with stealth practice and kenjutsu lessons. You don't have to follow my path if you don't want to but these skills could be very useful to you and I would like to continue my family's legacy through you. What do you think?'

My first thought was _huh my mother is probably in Anbu too_. I don't know how I didn't see it coming. It was obvious really.

It should probably scare me how used I had already become to the way of the ninja life and the fact that killing was such a casual thing here, but it really didn't. I mean from the moment I realised in which world I was born I knew that by following the shinobi path I would have to kill and I had also decided that even though I was taught a different moral code in my last life I couldn't really apply it here. I had to accept that this is a different world with different rules and I couldn't just demand for them to change just because I happen not to agree with them. It wouldn't be fair. It would be like going to China and demand the whole country to speak English instead of Chinese because I didn't know the language and didn't want to learn. This is a different culture with different ways of doing things, so I should just go with the flow otherwise I would be miserable.

II wouldn't have accepted it as easily though had been completely against killing as a person. Even from what I remember of my previous life it would seem that I was a somewhat morally ambiguous person. I was all for killing in self-defence and in all those debates about the morality of getting revenge through your own means or through the system I would support the do it on your own if you could get away with it.

Anyway, my mind got lost in its own thoughts again. Back to the original topic. There was no way I would decline Kenjutsu and stealth lessons from my mother. They were both very useful abilities. Especially as I don't have too much strength and I rely more on speed in taijutsu. Having come to a conclusion I finally answered her.

'I would be very happy to learn these skills from you mother.'

She gave me a satisfied smile in response.

One month later and I came to realize that my mother was very bored due to her maternity leave.

How did she decide to put an end to this boredom you may ask?

Did she find a hobby?

Did she see her friends?

…

Noooo. She entertained herself through me.

Through torturing me with training.

Every Monday and Friday evening now my time would be spent with my mother.

She would chase me around the compound and make me dodge her senbon and kunai, she would attack me in the middle of the night 'to test my situational awareness', hell she would even poison my food and I was poisoned twice.

Now every time I eat I doublecheck for poisons.

Shino thought I was crazy when I kept checking my lunch until I explained to him my mother's crazy training regime.

And her excuse for poisoning her only daughter?

'You can't be a good assassin if you can easily get assassinated.'

Which is good advice but still. My mother people.

I had a feeling that at some point she would start shouting 'Constant Vigilance' at me. She was like the female version of Mad Eye Moody.

Fuck my life.

She also threw senbon at me every time I made noise when I walked.

Really where the hell are the maternal instincts?

Anyway, regardless of the fact that my mom was a sadistic psycho she was also a very good teacher.

She started me on sword training by teaching me some basic katas to practice with the bokken she gave me and while hard she made it fun in her own way.

Overall, I was very happy with my progress.

* * *

I was at the Academy at the end of March when I realised that my first year at the academy was about to end.

I was seven years old, which meant that the Uchiha massacre will happen sometime in the next two years.

And I still had no clue what the fuck to do about it.

I really couldn't think of anything to do to prevent it.

But maybe I could just help by being there for Sasuke afterwards as I was pretty sure that he didn't have someone to rely on in canon.

Hmm I couldn't be his friend though after the event as he would be emotionally closed from everyone around him.

Therefore, I had to make the connection before and try not to be killed by the fangirls in the meantime.

Sakura and Ino were already part of the club and they were as annoying as I thought they would be.

Sad excuses for kunoichi the whole lot of them.

That was how I found myself in front of Uchiha Sasuke on the rooftop of the academy during lunch break.

I was getting a déjà vu feeling from when I proposed to Shikamaru to play shogi with me.

'Uchiha-san would you be up to sparring with me once in a while? And I mean that in the least fangirlish way you can think of. It's just that all my cousins are way older than me and I want do some one on one sparring with people my age who are actually good' I asked him.

He thought it over. Looked at me up and down and then nodded.

'Hn' Ah Uchiha and their language. 'I would be up to it as long as you are not a fangirl' he said with a smirk on his face.

Huh… who would have thought Duck Ass had a sense of humour.

'As I would ever be that sad excuse of a kunoichi. Are you free on Wednesday after school? We can either practise here or in one of the training grounds.'

He considered it.

'Yes, I am and the training grounds would be better. Meet up on the front of the school after classes are over?'

'Yes. Thank you, Uchiha-san,'.

Wednesday afternoon I found myself across Duck Ass as I had named him on my mind.

'Ready?'

'Hn.'

…

'I'll take that as a yes.'

He ran at me and tried to punch me I dodged.

I tried to hit his throat.

He blocked.

He kicked me.

I jumped over him.

And that was how our fight went.

I used speed to dodge and tried to hit fast but hard in vulnerable points

He attacked directly with strength and blocked.

I moved.

He counterattacked.

I was lighter on my feet and flowed around him in order to find a crack in his defences

He was steadier. But he followed my movements intently and was there every time to block.

This went on for fifteen minutes until suddenly he kicked me and I dodged by jumping over his legs. Before I knew it he had grabbed me from the air and pushed my back against his front while holding me on a loose chokehold.

'Dead' he panted.

I broke from his hold and turned to face him.

'Again' I demanded.

He grinned and attacked.

* * *

April came and my second year at the academy started.

And with this came kunoichi classes.

Needless to say, my inner feminist did not approve.

Hanakotoba was all fine and dandy. I even liked the idea of insulting people deliberately through flower language without them even knowing it.

The rest though…

Make up lessons, dancing, etiquette, tea ceremonies…

Yeah no.

And the fact that they thought that seduction was only applicable to women just made me want to hit something.

I really did not approve and I made that obvious.

It was how I had ended up in grandpa's office with Maru-chan in my arms, pacing around the office and muttering.

'… and grandfather these lessons are ridiculous… have to behave like a demure little woman my ass…'

'Yes Sora- chan... Language Sora-chan.'

I was too lost on my ranting to realise that he wasn't even paying attention to me.

'…and seduction lessons like seduction is only for women! Grandfather this is an outrage. A man can be used for seduction. There are women to be killed out there and gay people too, so why the hell should only girls know this crap?'

I rounded on him as I finally finished on my rant and waited for an answer to my very serious question.

He looked relieved that I was finished.

The fucker.

'Well Sora-chan. Men do follow the path of seduction just at older ages than women. It is not a very appealing career to young boys you see.'

I glared at him.

'So, you mean that it is appealing for young girls, grandpa dear? I didn't know that you had such good insight in young preteen girls' minds' I said in a threatening voice. I was not in law school for nothing after all.

He blanched and tried to take his words back.

'No Sora-chan I don't. It is just that young girls are more mature you see…'

'Shut it old man. I've won the argument. As compensation for this travesty that I have to participate in I demand chocolates. At least five boxes grandpa dear.'

He sighed amused despite himself at my antics.

'Four dear. You'll get fat if you eat them all.'

'Did you just call me fat?'

'No dear. Five it is.'

'Hn' damn duck ass rubbed off on me. Oh well…

I smirked and walked out.

Still got it.

It was during one of the blasted kunoichi lessons that I made my first female friend in this life.

We had to pair in twos and do each other's make up.

Almost immediately all the girls tried to find their friends to pair up with.

I had no female friends.

Ah the woes of hanging out with monkeys.

I looked around the room for a saving grace when I spotted a nervous looking Hinata in the front of the room on her own.

I grinned.

A great opportunity to meet the sweet cinnamon bun that was Hinata.

I headed towards her with a skip on my steps.

'Hello Hyuuga-san. Want to be my partner?'

'Ah. Eh yes Sss Sarutobi-san' she stuttered.

'Call me Sorami or Sora. All my friends do and I am in need for a female one. Somehow I ended up only around boys you see.' I proposed as I sat down.

'Ffffriends with me? She asked surprised.

Oh, my poor dear. I just wanted to hug the stuffing out of her.

'Well of course. You are the most suitable out of all of the other girls in here. You are adorable and you are not a fangirl of Duck Ass.'

'Du… duck assss?' she asked with wide eyes.

'Sasuke-san of course. His hair looks exactly like a duck's ass' I explained to her.

Ahh Sasuke's face when I called him that was priceless. He is still looking for an appropriate nickname for me.

Hinata suddenly burst into giggles and then hid her mouth with her hand.

Her face was red, the adorable thing.

'It does' she said in a quiet voice. 'Call me Hinata then SSSora-chan.'

I grinned.

This was great I was so going to corrupt Hinata.

(Insert evil laugh here.)

* * *

Time moved on as it tends to and it was summer break.

I was reading a book on all the chakra gates, while I was sitting on the grass next to a small lake in training ground five when a small pug appeared on my field of vision.

'Are you the mini medic?' it asked.

I blinked. Ok it was still there. Let's go with the flow then.

'I am a medic. Who is asking?'

'Kakashi. I am Pakkun. Boss's injured and doesn't want to go in the hospital. We argued. You're the compromise' the dog explained.

Before I could even get over the fact that Kakashi apparently argued with his summons the little pug was tugging me by my shorts to get up.

I huffed and followed after the pug.

'Pakkun-san? Does Hatake-san have a first aid kit in his apartment or should I get mine?' I asked.

'He has one.'

He led me to an apartment in the Southern district of the village which houses lots of shinobi.

I knocked.

One minute later a very tired looking Hatake Kakashi opened the door.

'Yo devil child'.

'You ridiculous man get inside and sit down. You look terrible.' I took him by the hand and laid him on the couch. The only other furniture in the room other than that was a coffee table. This is a perfect example of a spartan apartment.

'Bossy' he muttered, amused.

'Pakkun-san can you saw me the first aid kit please?'

The dog nodded and led me into the bathroom.

I found it in a cupboard. I opened it.

It looked stocked. I hadn't expected anything less really what with him avoiding the hospital like the plague. He should at least be able to patch himself up.

I went back to the living room with the medical kit at my hands.

I sat down and cast a diagnostic jutsu on him.

'Chakra exhaustion, your left arm is broken, bruises all over your torso and a stab wound on your right thigh. Really Hatake-san you have to look after yourself.'

'Ma why should I do that when I have little devil-chan to heal me up' he eye smiled me again.

The fucker.

I blew some air from my nose and got to work.

I didn't really want to see him naked and I had a feeling that he wouldn't take his pants off even if I asked, so I tore the fabric of his pants where his leg was wounded to check on the wound on his thigh. I went to the kitchen and came back with some wet towels and washed off the blood from his thigh.

Then I used the Mystical palm technique to heal it up.

I had gotten faster and better at it. I could even heal bones completely now even if a bit slowly, which was lucky for him or he really should have gone to the hospital.

I healed the bruising on his torso and then focused on his arm.

I helped him take off his shirt and vest and then set to work.

I aligned his bone right and then started the process of mending the bone.

It took me ten minutes but it worked. I was very proud of myself.

I then turned to Kakashi.

'Go wash up and I'll make you something to eat.'

He blinked at me, bewildered.

'Do not make me repeat myself Hatake-san.'

I went to the kitchen and looked through the fridge and cupboards.

I was an average cook. In my past life I was more of a baker, but I still knew how to make stuff. And I have helped mom cooking lots of times, so I was positive I could cook something.

In the end I made some miso soup and shrimp tempura.

By the time Kakashi was done I was just finishing the tempura.

He was wearing black pants and a black turtleneck.

'Ma this looks good devil-chan' he said as he took some plates from a cupboard.

'Of course, it does. I made it jiji-chan' I retorted.

I heard him choak in surprise and Pakkun laughing from his spot on the couch.

'I am not that old devil-child' he said.

'Of course, you are not. You are ancient.'

'You wound me devil-chan' he said in a sad voice.

'I know' I singsonged back.

I finished cooking and I started washing the utensils I used.

'Now before I leave Hatake-san. Eat, rest, do not use any chakra for the next two days and try not to put too much strain on your hand. Am I clear Hatake-san?'

I finished washing up and turned around to look at him for his answer.

'Yes, yes devil-chan but you are not leaving yet. You are staying for lunch. You did cook after all.'

'Eh I am staying for lunch?' I asked, surprised. I did not expect that. I thought that he was an antisocial bastard.

'Of course, you are' he said cheerfully.

I was pretty sure his peppiness was only 50% fake.

'Fine then' I said exasperated.

I served us and sat down on the second and only other chair in the kitchen.

I took a bite and then realised he wasn't eating.

Oh, kami don't tell me this is about the mask thing again?

It is not like it hides anything. You can clearly see the outline of his face.

I huffed. 'I won't look jiji-chan. I'll even look down. Enjoy your meal and do not eat quickly it's not good for your stomach'.

He eyed me suspiciously. 'You won't?'

I just looked on my plate in response.

Two minutes later and I heard the clung of cutlery.

I smiled to myself.

We ate in silence.

It was neither comfortable nor awkward.

Surprisingly he was the one that broke it.

'So, are you planning on being a medic- nin devil-chan?'

'Hm no' I could feel the surprise he felt at that from his chakra.

'How come?' he probed.

'Well I want to be a field kunoichi and I want to be more than mere support to my future team. I mean I don't believe that women are just good for genjutsu and medical ninjutsu we can do more than that. I don't mind being support when it is needed but that doesn't mean I can't kick ass on my own too right? I am still not sure what I want to do in the future to tell you the truth. I am between becoming a front liner or an assassin like my mother. Maybe I could do both. It would be like a complete surprise you wouldn't expect a front liner to become an assassin nor the opposite' I rambled and then blushed. 'Sorry I got a bit excited.'

'It's ok devil-chan. They are not bad ideas. You can look up now by the way.'

I looked up and yes, he was done.

I smiled and then got up to start washing the dishes.

Kakashi followed after me and dried them with a towel and put them back in place.

'Why learn medical ninjutsu then?' he asked, curious.

'Well I am of the opinion that every team would benefit if they had a person with some basic medical skills besides basic first aid. I mean many more lives would be saved that way on the field. So, I decided to learn as much as I am able. Not only will it save my own life but so will the lives of my teammates. And I also have the added benefit of knowing how to fuck somebody up in the worst way. If you know how to fix it then you know how to break it too' I explained with a sinister smile.

I could feel his approval through his chakra.

Well aren't you a vindictive bastard?

We finished the dishes and then I got ready to leave.

'Bye Pakkun. Rest jiji-chan.'

He ruffled my hair much to my ire and then mockingly saluted at me 'Hai devil-chama'.

I huffed and left with a small smile on my face despite myself.

* * *

School started up again. Routine was established once more.

I went to the academy.

Got bored out of my mind and read supplementary material through most of the classes.

Ate lunch with Shino, Kiba with the new addition of Hinata.

Played shogi with Shika twice a week. I was improving, even he said so.

Dad now really had to fight for his victories.

Maru-chan started taking his first unsteady steps.

I got the glorious honour of my name being the second word he said after mother, much to papa's dismay.

That 'So-nee' still warmed my heart.

Lessons with Ebisu got reduced to twice a week on the weekends.

I learned the henge no jutsu and I was working on the Kawarimi no Jutsu, which for me was the most useful of the academy three.

Mother continued teaching me with her crazy ways.

She even started me on senbon throwing, which is bloody hard, but I had a feeling that I would become much better with them than with shuriken

Lessons with Akira-sensei went on as usual.

I even helped in the hospital whenever I could.

Sasuke and I continued sparring two times a week.

We had become casual friends. He was still trying to find a nickname for me.

Poor Duck Ass.

October came, Maru-chan turned one year old.

Then the routine was broken at November the 10 nth.

A wide village alarm rung through the night.

I was left in charge of Konohamaru.

The next day my parents' faces were grim.

Sasuke was not at school that day.

Nor the next one.

* * *

Omake.

(If crow was Shisui)

Crow hasn't been around for two days.

I miss him.

I hope he wasn't replaced.

Two more days and the alarm rings.

Sasuke isn't school that day.

Nor the next one.

Crow never returns to guarding me.

* * *

A/N: I don't know what is happening and why the updates are so often. Inspiration just hit me on the head with a chair. Twice.

Hope you enjoy it.

Please review and tell me if you liked it.

xoxo


	5. Chapter 5- Academy Part 3

**Friends show their love in times of trouble, not in happiness. -** Euripides 

**Chapter 5**

I was walking towards the Hokage office. It has been a week since the Uchiha Massacre and the news had spread through the village like wildfire.

Everywhere you'd go that was what you'll hear people gossip about.

'… _only one survivor, the younger brother…'_

'… _I always knew he was up to no good. You just can't be that smart….'_

'… _massacred. Everyone but one…'_

Sasuke hadn't come to school yet which is understandable but I was planning on going to see him in the hospital and for that I needed clearance from grandpa.

I passed the receptionist and got in.

He was sitting on his desk and looked like he had aged ten years since the last time I saw him.

'Hello grandfather' I said to him and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

'Hello dear. What can I do for you?' he asked.

'I would like to go and see Sasuke in the hospital. I am pretty sure I need your clearance to get in his room' I answered.

He looked like he was about to refuse so, I spoke before he could.

'He is my friend. He went through something traumatic and I think the company will be good for him. Please grandpa' I begged.

He considered my offer for some time while I waited.

'Very good I'll give you the clearance to go. I think you are right. He should see someone familiar, it might make him feel a bit better.'

He gave me a signed permission and I smiled at him.

'Thank you, grandfather.'

* * *

The first thing I noticed after I got in Sasuke's hospital room was all the white.

The second was Sasuke himself.

He was laying on the bed and starring at the ceiling.

He looked pale with dark bags under his eyes and seemed like he had lost 10 kilos in a week.

But the worst thing were his eyes. They looked completely blank.

'Hello Duck Ass' I said as I took the only chair in the room and brought it next to him.

The only reason I knew he heard me was the fact that his chakra flared with recognition for a second and then went back to the mix of grief, sadness and betrayal that was before that.

He looked catatonic and I really had no idea what to do.

I sucked at comforting people.

'I brought you food. Hospital food sucks, so maybe with something tastier you'll gain an appetite.'

No answer.

I sighed.

'I suck at comforting people Duck Ass. I really do but I'll try. I won't ask how you are cause the answer to that is obvious and I won't try to make it seem like I understand how you feel. You just lost your whole family in a terrible way. I can only objectively sympathize with you but I that doesn't mean I won't try to help you. Just tell me what you need and I am here.'

I took his right hand and clasped it in mine. He tensed at first but after a couple of minutes he relaxed.

I started tracing soothing circles on his wrist.

What I was going to say next might make him react negatively but I wanted to stop his revenge only plan, if I could by cutting to the nub of the problem.

'I really don't like seeing you like this Duckie but it is understandable. The whole experience was very traumatic. I know everything seems terrible right now and it really is but I have every bit of faith that your stubborn ass will pull through. You won't ever get back to who you were before, let's not kid ourselves with lies, you'll be a little broken but you will endure and prevail. And I'll help you put your pieces back together ok?' I babbled.

I felt around for chakra signatures and I detected two Anbu outside the door, so I lowered my voice a bit as I continued.

'You'll be happy at some point in the future that I promise you. Maybe not today, maybe not in a years' time but you will. And I'm pretty sure I already know what you're planning on that pretty boy head of yours duckie. You'll get all emo and angsty on me and then go on a self-imposed journey of revenge. Not that I am against that, but I want you to be smart about it and not be like all the other revenge driven people in the stories. Because do you know what happens to them? They lose themselves in their revenge and start going insane and end up dying in a ditch. And you are not allowed to be the insane one in this friendship duckie. I am the insane one and I have no wish to see you dead in a ditch.

So, you know what you'll do?

You won't focus just on your revenge. It might seem like the best thing now. A goal for you to be able to focus and go on but if you concentrate only on him and not live your life in the meantime he'll win. Because that'll make him important. And you don't want that duckie. I am not saying don't avenge your family, just live your life too and don't let your emotions rule you on this matter. Be smart about it.

Start getting stronger once you begin recovering but take a breather once in a while or else you'll drive yourself insane. Ask for help, for my help if you need it. And be patient, it might take years and a lot of planning but you'll succeed. Don't rush it. And another piece of advice from experience. Know your enemy. I know that you know him the best but what were his motives. Why did he do it? Do you know that? If you don't then find out if you can. I mean was it pressure? Did he break from all the expectations and went insane or was it something else? Did he plan it before the event? If you can't find anything about it ask him when you are about to face him. You deserve to know in order to bring justice to your clan.'

'Huh duckie if I am not talking to thin air do remind me this phrase. Bring justice does sound better than take revenge. Also, duckie you'll have to find out if he had any associates because if you ask me, yes he was a prodigy but killing an entire clan on his own does seem a little overkill even for someone of his skill. So, you know if there are other people there when you take your revenge, you might need me to take care of them.'

I could feel from his chakra that he was shocked from what I was saying and there was curiosity too.

I really hoped the Anbu outside didn't hear me or worse an associate of Danzo.

'What I want to say is just don't let anyone control you Duck Ass. You are the bloody captain of your soul and all that jazz.'

'Now that my awesome improvised speech is done let's talk about what is happening outside of these white walls. Shikamaru is still winning all our games. The bastard…

And that blond kid Naruto started wearing an orange jumpsuit. And he pranks everything that moves…'

And that was how I spent the next two hours.

Talking about everything I could.

I could feel him relax bit by bit as his raging emotions calmed a bit.

'I should probably get going soon. I don't think they'll let me stay here past curfew even if I am the Hokage's granddaughter' I could feel him tense at that.

'I'll come by tomorrow at some point ok? Now before I leave I am going to hug you because frankly you need one and as you know cuddles make everything better.'

I sat next to him on the bed.

Slowly I lifted his torso up and then looped my arms around him.

He stiffened at first but several seconds later he hugged me back tight.

I held him just as tight for several moments.

'It's ok if you want to cry duckie. I won't judge and it might make you feel better.'

A bit of silence and then… he choked on a sob and his cries echoed in the room.

It was heart-breaking.

He sobbed uncontrollably and hysterically until he had no cries left.

I soothed him as much as I could by making comforting noises and rubbing his back.

We remained like that for what felt like hours till only the sounds of our breaths could be heard in the room.

And then the sober mood was broken.

I heard a knock on the door. 'Visiting hours are over' a nurse said outside the room.

I gave Sasuke one last squeeze and started untangling myself from him.

I looked at him. He was red in the face but some light had returned in his eyes.

Progress.

I smiled at him and got up.

'See you tomorrow duckie.'

Before I could open the door, I was stopped.

'Thank you' I heard him say in a quiet hoarse voice.

I smiled at him over my shoulder 'It was nothing duckie. We are friends after all.'

I wouldn't know it till some time later that my words that day would stay with Sasuke for the rest of his life and that due to them his choices would change.

And how things should have been weren't any more

That was how the butterfly effect worked after all.

* * *

Time moved on and again routine was reestablished.

Sasuke had one-month permission to be away from school.

I visited him for an hour every afternoon and I slowly coaxed him into talking a bit more every time.

They were baby steps but they were progress somewhat.

My lessons continued as usual.

My adorable little brother continued growing in a good pace.

He was a bit steadier on his feet now.

And he didn't fall on his ass every one step but… every three.

Eh. What can you do?

In school I was bored out of my mind during the theoretical lessons as usual.

I knew everything, something that was noticed by my teachers apparently as I found myself sitting in front of grandfather in his office while we drank tea.

'Sora-chan your teachers are telling me that you are way ahead of your peers in both the theoretical lessons and the practical. Therefore, it was suggested that you move up some grades after you take a placement test. Would you like that? It is all up to you. Whatever you decide.'

I thought about it, while it would be good to graduate early and gain some field experience I wouldn't be put in class with the future important players and I wouldn't be able to be in team 7 unless I somehow became Kakashi's apprentice. Not to mention that if I was declared a prodigy immediately after the whole Itachi fiasco I would probably gain some bad rep.

'I don't think I want to grandpa. I would like to graduate with my friends, not only that but I have a feeling that if I was placed in a team with people who are older than me, they would either get jealous or look down on me. I'm also of the opinion that my practical needs more practice before I will be ready to get in the field. So, I would like to stay the whole six years in the academy to gain and sharpen my skills.'

I could feel my grandpa's approval as he smiled at me.

Good choice then.

'Very well dear I'll inform your teachers.'

I also decided to take the opportunity that this conversation offered me to ask him for some fuinjutsu books. It would be a very useful skill, as from what I understood you could make almost everything with it.

In the future I would need every advantage I could get and fuinjutsu knowledge would be a huge one if I wanted to be able to face S-ranked threats.

'Grandpa do you have any books on Fuinjutsu?' I asked.

That gained his interest.

'You are interested in sealing dear?'

'Yes. I find it a very interesting subject not to mention if I manage to make my own seals they'll be better and much cheaper than the bought ones' I explained.

'I have some in my library at home. I'll give them to you when I find them ok Sora-Chan?'

I grinned at him 'Perfect. Thanks grandfather.'

* * *

A month passed, I turned eight years old and Sasuke came back to the academy.

The fangirls almost mobbed him the moment they saw him and I was ready to throttle them.

Those insensitive twats.

His whole family was massacred. The solution according to them?

 _marry me and everything will be perfect._

Note the sarcasm please.

The moment he got in class there was a moment of silence and then a chorus of Sasuke- kun coming from all around the room.

Before they could even think of moving towards him I had him substituted with my bag.

Sasuke, now besides me blinked disorientated and then gave me a nod in thanks.

I smiled in response and then turned to face the screaming banshees who finally noticed where Sasuke was.

I gave them my coldest look, daring them to speak.

They wisely chose to shut up and turn around.

They had learned the lesson from Ami when she tried to bully Hinata.

Let's just say it wasn't pretty.

Sasuke sat next to me on the sit Kiba usually sat.

And the moment I thought of his name he appeared in front of me with my bag in his hands.

I smiled at him and took it from his hands 'Thanks Ki-Chan.'

We exchanged a look and he nodded.

He chose to sit on the empty sit next to Shika and Choji without even a complain for losing his sit.

Kiba was an Inuzuka and they were pack animals. Therefore, they took comfort from physical contact and by being in close contact with pack. He could smell the depression on Sasuke like I could feel it and he approved of my method of offering comfort even if he had to change a sit.

Inuzuka language was very interesting and relied heavily on instinct. I've known Kiba for almost seven years now and I was still figuring out his small gestures and their meanings.

* * *

It was during lunch at the beginning of my third year in the academy that I finally met one hyperactive blonde menace.

While I had seen him around a lot and he made lots of noise in class we had never spoken to each other.

I was heading outside as I had stayed a bit longer in class in order to finish the last chapter of a book I was reading when I spotted him alone on a swing looking miserable.

I stopped for a minute to examine him.

Golden almost yellow hair, large blue eyes, whisker marks and the horrendous orange jumpsuit.

It was then that I noticed something. He didn't have lunch with him.

And how could he. He didn't have anyone to make it for him and I didn't think that he could make anything other than cup ramen.

I headed towards him.

'Hello Uzumaki-san.'

He looked at me with guarded eyes.

'Who are you?'

'I am Sarutobi Sorami' I answered him.

'What do you want?' he asked suspiciously.

'Well I noticed you didn't have lunch with you …'

'Eh he he I forgot it' he said.

Lie. Definitely lie.

'That won't do. Come on we'll share mine' I said as I sat down next to him.

His eyes got huge.

'Really?'

'Of course, Uzumaki-san'.

'Great. Call me Naruto dattabeyo.'

'Then you'll have to have to call me Sorami or Sora, Naruto-kun. After all that is what my friends call me'.

'Friends?' he asked with the most hopeful look I've ever seen. Poor dear.

'Well of course Naruto-kun'.

The smile I received in return could blind the whole world.

.

.

The next day I had packed three bentos. One for me and the other two for Sasuke and Naruto. I was pretty sure that Sasuke couldn't cook either and I didn't want him to live through take out and tomatoes.

I gave it to him before the bell for lunch rang.

He looked at it with an indescribable look on his face and then nodded to me in thanks.

He preferred to sit on the roof on his own during lunch. Sometimes I would join him too if I felt that he brooded too much.

Once lunch started I found Naruto, grabbed him by the hand before he could say a word and led him to where everyone else was sitting. More often than not now Kiba, Shino, Hinata and I were joined by Choji and Shika, so it was a large group.

Everyone looked at me when I approached with the newcomer.

'Guys this is my new friend Uzumaki Naruto. Naruto-kun these are Aburame Shino, Hyuuga Hinata, Inuzuka Kiba, Nara Shikamaru and Akimichi Choji.'

Everyone waved when their name was called though Hinata looked ready to faint. Damn and they had been doing so well, she barely stuttered now.

I pushed Naruto down.

'Here I brought you lunch' I told the flabbergasted Naruto.

He smiled brightly at me with gratitude.

'Thanks Sora-Chan'.

Shikamaru's response to all this?

'Troublesome'.

And that was that.

* * *

I was going back home from Kiba's house when I was found by Pakkun once more.

'What did he do this time?' I asked the dog.

'The same as always' the pug muttered back.

I huffed.

'Want to feel my paws? It will make you feel better. They are very soft' he suggested.

I blinked at the odd question and then shrugged.

'Eh why not?'

I crouched in front of him and he gave me his right paw.

I touched it. Paused. Touched it again.

It was super soft.

I kid you not it was a soft as a new-born's behind.

'Wow. So soft…'

'I know' the dog smugly said.

We reached Kakashi's apartment and before I could even knock I was faced with Kakashi's exhausted visage.

'Really Hatake-san? Again? What part of take care did you not understand' I reprimanded as I helped him lie on the couch.

'But you wouldn't see me otherwise' he said in a mock voice.

'Really Hatake-san? That is your excuse? I wouldn't mind seeing you once in a while if I saw you unharmed and didn't have to heal you.'

He eye smiled at me.

The fucker.

He then took me by surprise.

'Call me Kakashi devil-chan. Hatake makes me feel old.'

'Then call me Sorami or Sora Kakashi-san. Though you got something wrong jiji-chan, you do not just feel. You are old.'

'You are so mean to me Sora-chan' he whined.

I huffed a laugh and went to get the first aid kit and some wet towels in order to heal him.

I came back and set to work.

I cast a diagnostic jutsu on him.

'Let's see. Mild chakra exhaustion, your right shoulder is dislocated, you have some bruises and burns all through your body and three broken fingers on your right hand'.

For the next half hour, I worked to heal him in silence and when I was done I gave him a stern look. Or at least I thought was stern and ordered him to rest and eat.

'Now I'm going to cook Kakashi-san. Go clean yourself up.'

In the end I made some omurice and onigiri.

Like last time I stayed for lunch and like last time we ended up making some light and playful discussion.

These meetings would continue happening for the next several years.

It would take me some time to realise that excluding Gai who literally invaded Kakashi's apartment, I was the only one invited inside.

And that I was the first person in years with whom he would start bonding on his own volition.

* * *

I was in my room at home.

Five minutes ago, I finished the fifth book I had on Fuinjutsu.

Other than the universal agreement that I should learn calligraphy, something that I started on and I was making slow progress on, I had come to realise that there weren't many set rules relating to Fuinjutsu.

It seemed like everyone had their own opinion on it, which was just annoying and completely frustrating.

I had started taking notes during the first book and now I had in front of me a notebook full of them that didn't make much sense.

So, I just had to connect everything I know about the subject, find the similarities in my notes and then and then make educated guesses until I found my answer.

Easier said than done.

Oh well.

According to the books, the following were what could be considered the rules of Fuinjutsu:

The general definition of what Fuinjutsu is that is most commonly accepted is this one: Fuinjutsu are a type of jutsu that seal objects, living being, chakra along with a wide variety of other things within another object. Fuinjutsu can also be used to restrict movement or unseal object either from within something or someone.

A seal is a single pattern or kanji of some specific design that serves a specific function or purpose.

A progressive series of seals, activated in specific order, each dependent on the seal before it, in order to allow the combining of simple functions of simple seals to enable more complex and advances functions, is called a sealing array.

Together they can form a seal.

An imbalance is created when a seal with an odd numbered seal array is placed on top of an even numbered seal and vice -versa.

In order to activate a seal, you have to focus chakra in a seal and in order to deactivate it, you have to cut the flow of chakra in the seal.

There are different sealing types, such as storage seals, explosive seals, barrier seals, space-time seals, energy seals, summoning seals, supplementary seals etc.

It is a different procedure to seal an inanimate object from sealing an alive thing. You couldn't use the same storage seal for example.

All these things were all good and fun until you realized that it didn't explain how to make a bloody seal.

I wouldn't have to make just a simple connection but a huge leap of faith.

Dammit. No wonder no one studied this shit.

* * *

It was a warm summer evening and I was heading towards my home with Naruto and Sasuke.

How did this happen you may ask?

Well I've had enough with them not being able to cook anything for themselves so I was going to teach them how to make some simple dishes.

Naruto was enthusiastic.

Sasuke while he appreciated the gesture, was not so much.

'And I am going to learn how to cook much quicker than you teme'

'Hn'

Ah yes. The rivalry still existed. Unfortunately.

They riled each other up all the time.

It was ridiculous.

But there wasn't malice in it so, I let it be.

I had dubbed them as frenemies in my mind.

Though if they got too far while we cooked I would probably hit them with a fry pan on the head. Twice each.

We were just passing a civilian merchant that brought some herbal tea that I liked when he saw me and bowed.

'Honourable granddaughter.'

'Kaito-san' I said in return.

Ah yes, the whole honourable granddaughter thing while quiet annoying wasn't so bad. I mean yes, I was somehow in the shadow of my grandfather but not that much. I was all but officially declared a prodigy so I had my own good rep and I had no desire to be the Hokage. When the time came I would be famous for my own accomplishments, so I really didn't care that much. Not to mention that when it was needed being the Hokage's grandchild gave me lots of benefits that I could exploit.

'Sora-chan why did that guy call you that? Naruto asked.

'Well Naruto-kun I am the granddaughter of the Hokage' I explained.

'Ehhh jiji is your grandfather?' he asked surprised.

'Dobe' Sasuke reprimanded.

'Shut up Teme. I didn't know' Naruto shouted.

'Eh yes? My grandfather is the Hokage.'

'You don't want be the Hokage right? Because I'll be the Hokage.'

I huffed amused, of course our conversation would end up there.

'No Naruto-kun too much paperwork for me' I said.

'Yatta' Naruto shouted at the same time that Sasuke snorted, amused at my response.

In the end I found out that Sasuke once taught something was very good at remembering it. He was very methodical in his approach and he learned to make three dishes.

Naruto on the other hand could literally burn water.

He almost managed to burn the kitchen down thrice.

At least he learned some nice sandwich combos?

Oh well. I tried.

* * *

Ok.

I learned how to make chakra ink, which is as the name called it ink enhanced with my chakra.

My calligraphy was finally at a good level.

I even copied some designs for explosive notes. The standard Konoha ones.

Now I managed to learn all the bloody fundamentals and the history of sealing, I've studied five different styles of sealing and I've yet to understand how they decided on these symbols and why.

And I had yet to discover what the connection between them was, so that was how I found myself meditating and trying to arrange my memories of my past to remember anything related with the show.

And then I remembered a fanfiction the name of which I couldn't recall, that said that everyone had to find their unique way of understanding sealing, so they would have to make their own style.

My eyes flew open and I started writing. It made so much sense. Why at some points these sealing methods seemed to overlap yet otherwise didn't have a connection with each other except for the fundamentals. People could think in so many ways.

Not to mention that in order for some seals to work the best for someone, they would have to be specifically made for their chakra.

I mean each person's chakra is so different from everyone else's that what works for one person would often not work for another. Chakra is composed from mental and physical energy and how you understand sealing will definitely affect their spiritual chakra, which subsequently will affect the person's chakra as a whole and if they understand the way of sealing then their chakra will respond to that.

That would also explain the Uzumaki progress in sealing. I believed that the bloodline of the clan was a genetically identical way of understanding sealing and similar chakra between them. As it was the same for all the Uzumaki the pool of knowledge they must had gathered through the years should have been tremendous.

If I was right the bastards could actually learn and not have to invent a whole language each.

Fuckers.

As for how everyone could use the Konoha standard to make storage scrolls and explosive tags?

Well when you made a seal you wrote the instructions and when you added chakra only a generalized symbol that told you what the seal did remained.

If everyone just copied a seal that said explode and not the instructions laid inside of it then the seal would do what the person who activated them willed them to, ergo they would explode.

And as for how they worked for everyone's chakra?

Probably there was a supplementary seal in the instructions that neutralized everyone's chakra by filtering their natural element just like medical ninjutsu did.

Ok great. Now I only had to invent my own language.

Joy.

Though I probably should confirm my theory with someone who knows fuinjutsu, as the art is as versatile and flexible as it is dangerous.

Wouldn't want to burn the house down.

Like at all.

Kakashi should probably know.

.

.

That was how I found Kakashi through chakra sensing sitting in front of the memorial stone.

'Hi Kakashi-san' I chirped.

He blinked at me 'Devil-child'.

'Do you know anything about fuinjutsu? Because I have a theory I need confirmed.'

'Fuinjutsu eh. You aim high. Well I know some basics. Tell me what you know and about your little theory.'

So, I did. I sat down next to him and I explained to him about my research and my frustration to find a connection and how I concluded that I would need to make my own code of sealing. (Minus the whole fanfic from another life helping me of course).

By the end of it my throat was horse from talking but I could tell that he was impressed by what I told him.

'Devil-chan you are correct in your theory' he ruffled my hair. 'Good job.'

I beamed at him.

I got up and I looked at him. I didn't want to leave him on his own to sulk.

'Hey Kakashi-san want to get some ramen?' I asked.

Naruto had made me a fan for the dish much to his delight and Sasuke's horror.

He looked at me weirdly for a while and then he eye smiled.

It was 80% genuine.

Improvement.

'Yes. Let's go devil-chan. But you are paying.'

'Mou you are mean jiji-chan' I sulked.

He just ruffled my hair in response.

The bastard.

.

.

It took me a month but I finally decided on my way of sealing.

I was never very interested in programming but I did remember some basics about it from high school.

I wrote some basic instructions for an explosive tag and took my time in making sure that I had taken all the variables in consideration.

It went somehow like this:

 **Explode** -yes- **when** -five seconds - **size-** **length:** ten meters & **height:** one meter- **End.**

I put the precise chakra needed, hoped for the best and then watched.

It was glorious.

 _Art is an explosion un._

My inner pyromaniac cackled.

Elsewhere Kumori felt like smiling in pride. Masuto shivered in fright. Konohamaru wondered when he would eat lunch.

* * *

Two years passed and I was now ten years old.

My adorable little brother was four and he was a hyperactive ball of energy.

Every time he would become too tiring for me I would bring Naruto to play with him.

He had the energy to spare and Maru-chan adored him.

Naruto had become a part of our group and thanks to our help had started understanding the subjects better.

One of the reasons he sucked so much before was the fact that no one had really taught him how to read and write.

Katakana and hiragana had to be taught either by the parents or from an orphanage matron before school.

The orphanage matron hadn't in fact taught it to Naruto. Something that I took great pleasure of informing my grandfather.

Let's just say he was pissed.

On that note grandfather was absolutely delighted that I had befriended Naruto.

Anyway, we taught him to read and improved his basic taijutsu stances and while he still remained dead last, he at least understood what he was learning.

The teachers were either ignoring him or just neglected him, which at least was a better alternative than active sabotage. Not that I had completely erased the possibility. They could probably be aiming to put him in a team with Sasuke already and for that he needed to be dead last.

As for Sasuke. Well he wasn't as emo as in canon.

He had me as a friend and I did manage to have him and have fun once in a while.

He had decided on calling me midget as my nickname because I was shorter than him. Not very creative but still annoying.

The only other person who got reactions out of him was Naruto and their interactions were always fun to watch.

As for my training, well I learned all the academy three and I had the basic academy taijutsu style down to a T. Therefore, my lessons with Ebisu were over at the end of my fourth year in the academy.

I continued practising on my own though especially the taijutsu style Asuma had started me in and that grandfather helped me perfect when he had the chance.

I still had lessons with Akira-sensei in the hospital and I ran rounds there.

I even took some tests and I was now a certified low B- ranked medical ninja.

To be honest those lessons went for much longer than I had expected not that I minded. They will be useful.

I managed to beat father in a game of shogi once and I got so excited that I tackled Shika on the ground the next time I saw him, much to his displeasure.

I had woken him up from a nap.

Mother continued torturing me.

I was now ready for everything.

And I transitioned from the bokken to a tanto.

Fuinjutstu studying was going well and I even made some weight seals, to help me gain some more muscle and speed.

My meetings with Kakashi kept happening even more frequently.

Generally, life was good.

And then one summer afternoon Asuma was back and it got even better.

I had just come home from tea with Hinata when I saw him sitting in the living room talking with mom.

I beamed.

'Uncle Asuma' I shouted as I tackled him.

'Hey brat. How are you?' he asked.

'Good. I missed you and you owe me some jutsu.'

He just laughed in response.

.

.

A day later Asuma had me sit down in the backyard and then he gave me a piece of chakra paper to test my chakra nature.

I put some chakra into it. The paper ripped in half and its corners turned to dirt and crumbled away.

'Huh brat you have a major affinity for Wind and a secondary for earth. Good for you, not many have a secondary.'

'Huh nice.' I was very happy with my affinity as I had both a primary offensive one and a defensive one.

'You are lucky that I am one of the small amount of people in Konoha that have a wind affinity, though I don't know any earth ones.'

Before I could think about it I had answered him 'I don't mind. Kakashi-san will probably teach me if I asked.'

His jaw dropped. 'Kakashi … teach. You know Kakashi?'

I smiled embarrassed 'Well I am kind of his doctor. I mean that ridiculous man has a complete aversion to hospitals. And we are also kind of friends.'

'Doctor? Friends?' he asked flabbergasted.

I might have broken him.

He shook his head in exasperation 'Only you brat. Now back on topic, I'll teach you how to enhance your weapons with wind chakra in order to make them sharper...'

* * *

Another two years passed and graduation day was upon us.

We had just finished the written and physical part of the exam and were now waiting for our names to be called for the ninjutsu part.

They were somewhere in the middle of the group not that I noticed as I was trying to keep Naruto from having a panic attack.

'What if it is the clone jutsu dattabeyo?' he asked.

'If it is don't make two clones or whatever number they are asking, make as many as you can. Remember when you made fifty of them? They turned out fine. If they ask you explain to them that you have too much chakra and not enough chakra control for less' I soothed him.

That had been Shikamaru's idea and it actually worked.

It was good to know that the lazy bum had his uses once in a while.

'…Sarutobi Sorami…'

I smiled at Naruto and got in the examination room.

There were four people there. Iruka-sensei and his assistant Mizuki and the other sensei and his own assistant from the other class.

From the four classes that we started with only two remained. Talk about brutal.

'Sorami-chan show us a Kawarimi' Iruka-sensei ordered.

I nodded and switched with a chair in the corner of the room.

'… a henge now…'

I henged into grandpa.

The examiners smiled at me.

'And make two clones please'.

I did as asked.

Iruka-sensei beamed at me.

'Congratulations Sorami-chan. You graduated.'

I smiled at him and took a hitai ate with a black headband.

I went outside and found my parents and Maru-chan.

'I passed' I exclaimed.

'Yay neesan is the best' Konohamaru shouted as he hugged me.

My parents gave me their congratulations and told me that we would go out for a celebratory dinner that night.

I made them wait until all my friends were finished.

Sasuke passed and before he left I gave him a hug and after that I waited for Naruto.

And then the blond pest ran outside with a big smile on his face and slammed into me 'I passed dattabeyo!'

'Good job Naruto' I smiled proud of him.

I told him goodbye and left with my family.

I was happy that I had prevented him from failing and from having to deal with all that shit with Mizuki.

Or so I had thought until I heard the village alarm that night for B ranked threats.

Honestly that boy.

.

The next day when I went by his home I was told a story about how Mizuki tricked him into stealing the Scroll of Seals by saying that it was for extra credit and how he and Iruka-sensei beat him. There was no mention of the nine tails though I was sure that he knew about it.

'… and I learned that jutsu. Shadow clone jutsu, which is awesome and I kicked his ass…'

When he finished I just shook my head at him and then slapped him upside the head.

'Ow Sora-chan! Why did you do that for?'

'Don't be so trusting, idiot!'

* * *

One week later it was the day that we were given our team placement.

I had changed my clothes for my genin promotion.

I was now wearing tight black shorts that reached right above my knees, a mesh armour shirt and on top of it a kimono style moss green shirt and black sandals.

As for my hitai ate I wore it on my forehead with my side bangs over it.

I had my hair up in half bun and the rest was left loose.

I had my chakra conductive tanto, a graduation gift from mom strapped on my back, a kunai pouch on my right thigh and a senbon one on the left one.

In the inner pocket of my kimono I had a storage scroll containing my first aid kit and another one with bentos for me and my teammates.

Generally, I looked badass and ready for action.

When I got in class I had to hold on the doorframe or I would have died from laughter.

Naruto was on Sasuke and they were lip locked.

A group of fangirls with Sakura and Ino in the lead were surrounding them and looking like angry hyenas.

They broke apart and started to clean their mouths with disgusted looks on both their faces.

'Ahahhaha. Oh, my gods Duckie, Naruto forgot to tell me something?'

They both looked at me shocked and kind of resigned. They both knew that I would never let them forget about it.'

Before they could say anything the harpy Haruno was on Naruto.

'Naruto! How dare you steal Sasuke-kun's first kiss!' she shouted.

'But Sakura-chan' -Still got that crush? Huh – 'It wasn't my fault.'

She lifted her hand. I was in front of her before she could even move it.

'Haruno-san. Let's avoid doing things that we shouldn't right?' I asked with a smile full of teeth.

She looked quite frightened.

Oh well.

I sat next to Sasuke and pulled Naruto to sit on my other side, much to the fangirls' dismay.

Seconds later Iruka came and started giving a long ass speech.

'…from this day forward, you are no longer students of the academy but full fledged shinobi. But among the ranks you are mere novices, lowest of the low. Your greatest challenges all lie ahead. The next step is the assignment of official duties to you all on behalf of our village. We will begin by dividing you into three-man cells, each of which will be mentored my a jounin.'

'Now the team assignments are the following: team one…

Team four: Haruno Sakura…'

'Nooooooooo. Sasuke-kun' Sakura whimpered pathetically.

'Team seven: Uchiha Sasuke, Sarutobi Sorami and Uzumaki Naruto.'

'Yatta Dattabeyo' Naruto screamed as he tackled me in a hug.

I could feel Sasuke's relief that he wasn't with a fan girl and calm joy that we were together. I had already told him a month earlier about the whole Rookie of the year, top kunoichi and dead last, team thing, so he had time to prepare for being teamed up with Naruto.

'Team eight: Inuzuka Kiba, Aburame Shino and Hyuuga Hinata…'

All my friends seemed happy to be grouped up together.

'… team ten: Yamanaka Ino, Akimichi Choji and Nara Shikamaru.'

'Ok everyone you are dismissed for the next two hours. Then you'll be introduced to your Jounin sensei.'

I stood up, grabbed both my teammates by the hands and led them to the roof.

I had no desire to be mobbed by desperate fangirls.

Both of the boys sat down and I unsealed our lunches from the storage scroll.

'Thanks Sora-chan. Hey how did you do that?' Naruto asked.

'The unsealing?'

He nodded.

'This is a storage scroll I made them' I explained.

'You did how?'

And that was how the rest of lunch passed with me explaining the basics of fuinjutsu, Naruto babbling on and on and Sasuke adding his own thoughts when he felt like it.

When lunch was over we headed to the room and waited for our sensei.

I hugged Asuma when he came to collect team ten and waved to the rest of my friends.

It was fifteen minutes later and we were the only cell left.

Even Iruka-sensei had left the room.

I could see my teammates were annoyed.

Time for damage control.

'Ok' I said and immediately gathered their attention.

'Due to the fact that our teacher is this late I believe that our sensei is Hatake Kakashi, who is notorious for being late. Now those are not just rumours. I know the guy personally as his aversion to hospitals has led him to somehow becoming my patient and that means that I know that he'll be late for at least three hours.'

'Three hours dattabeyo? He must suck.'

'No, he does not. He is quite famous for graduating the academy at five and becoming a Jounin at thirteen. Do not let his appearance fool you he is an A-ranked shinobi for a reason and he used to be an Anbu captain too.'

I could feel Sasuke's satisfaction at the fact his sensei was that good and Naruto was in awe of him before he even met the guy.'

'Hn. So, what should we do for the next three hours?'

Hmm I thought about it.

'Do you guys know how to Tree walk?'

Both of them shook their heads in negative.

'Ok let's go outside. There is not enough space here. We'll leave a message on the blackboard for sensei to know where to find us and I'll also check once in a while for his chakra.'

They nodded and followed me outside. They both knew that I was a chakra sensor and they trusted in my ability to find people.

I walked up and down a tree and then turned to face them with a smug look.

They were impressed and they definitely wanted to learn.

'Ok. The Tree walking technique is a chakra control exercise. It involves focusing a fixed amount of chakra to the bottom of one's feet and using that to climb a tree. Now remember if the stream of chakra is too weak, the user will lose their footing on the tree and fall off. If it is too strong, the user will be pushed away from the tree, causing the tree to break around the point of contact and the user will fall. Mark your progress with a kunai. I would also advice to find the amount of chakra that works for you and then try climbing it.'

They got to work and I sat down and practiced my chakra sensing.

Two hours later I felt Kakashi arriving and observing us for several minutes.

I've had enough 'Kakashi- sensei I can feel you.'

He appeared next to me then 'You ruin all my fun devil-chan.'

'I know' I singsonged.

He sulked.

He went behind the boys who have yet to notice him.

Have to fix that.

'Ma my cute little students are already hard at work'.

Naruto fell from where he was on the tree.

'YOU ARE LATE' he shouted from the ground.

'Hn' Sasuke agreed. Got to love Uchiha-speak.

'Meet me on the rooftop in ten minutes' Kakashi said and then disappeared.

The bastard.

Ten minutes later we were sitting on the roof of the academy, Sasuke on the left, me in the centre and Naruto on my right side.

'Ok let's introduce ourselves' Kakashi said in a cheerful voice.

'You first sensei' I told him.

'Well. My name is Hatake Kakashi. I'm the kind of person who doesn't feel like talking about his likes and dislikes! My dreams for the future and none of your business … But anyway I have lots of hobbies.'

'Bastard' I muttered under my breath. By the amusement I felt from him he'd heard me.

'You only told us your name' Naruto shouted.

'Yes, yes. Your turn. Let's start with you on the right'.

'My name is Uzumaki Naruto. What I like are my friends, Sora-chan's cooking and ramen. What I hate is the three-minute wait after I pour in the boiling water for my cup ramen and vegetables. My dream is to become the Hokage and then my Villagers will have to aknowledge my existence at last. My hobbies are pranks and gardening I guess.'

'You on the centre'.

'My name is Sarutobi Sorami. I like my friends, my family, chocolate, working at the hospital and training. I dislike traitors and those who hurt my friends. My dream is to probably join Anbu and prove that kunoichi are just as good as men by reaching S-rank. My hobbies are spending time with my friends and family, reading and healing old men.'

He hadn't expected the last one.

Still he was reluctangly amused.

'The last one now.'

'I'm Uchiha Sasuke. I hate many things. I like sparring and tomatoes. I don't have a dream but a goal to restore my clan and bring justice to it by finding a certain man. My hobby is training.'

I was stunned. I had not expected such a change in Sasuke. He hadn't said anything to me about his ambition but the fact that he used the phrase 'bring justice instead of kill' made me feel like I was actually doing something right.

'Ok minions. Formal training begins tomorrow. Our first mission involves only us.'

Naruto was bouncing from excitement 'what is it?'

'Survival exercise.'

'Eh?' Naruto asked.

'You'll have to survive against me. It won't be your typical survival training.' He then started laughing maliciously.

Dramatic bastard.

'Why are you laughing?' Naruto asked.

'Oh, it's nothing it's just if I told you you'd chicken out. You see of the twenty-seven members of your graduating class only nine will be accepted as genin. The other eighteen must go back to the academy.'

I could tell that the othet two were surprised by that, yet also determined.

'This suck! We graduated already. We've already passed a test' Naruto argued.

'Oh, we wanted to eliminate all the hopeless cases from your ranks. The ones that left are the ones that showed potential. In any event we'll meet tomorrow morning at five AM in training ground seven, so I can evaluate each of your skills and weaknesses. Bring all your weapons and don't have breakfast before unless you enjoy throwing up. The details for your assignment are in this handout, memorize it and don't be late.'

He eye smiled and disappeared. The bastard.

* * *

 **A/N: I updated again. I am getting worried now.**

 **Hope you enjoyed this chapter.**

 **Please review.**

 **xoxo**


	6. Chapter 6 -Bell Test

**"Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated."**  
 **― Confucius**

 **Chapter 6**

We were left on our own on the roof to think over what we had just been told.

Sasuke turned to me 'Earlier you said that you know him?'

I nodded in response.

'What do you know and what do you think he'll made us do?' he asked me.

'Well Kakashi-San is a complicated person, so I won't delude you by saying that I know everything about him. I don't and some things I know are for him to tell you about. But as I said before he is a very skilful man and he is a jounin, so do not think even for a second that you stand a chance against him. Yes, we are good for genin but genin and jounin are miles apart from each other. With me so far?' I asked them.

They both nodded at me.

'From what I could gather from his words earlier, he'll test our skills tomorrow. He also said that we'll have to survive against him, so we'll probably have to fight him. Our best chance against him is if we cooperate with each other and use every dirty trick and advantage we have. We definitely won't win but if we show the right amount of planning, skills and teamwork I'm sure we'll pass.'

'What? We can totally win' Naruto said chagrined.

'Dobe. She is right. He is a jounin, we can't win that easily, but we might take him by surprise' Sasuke admitted, though I could tell that it hurt his pride to say that he would lose.

'Fine' Naruto huffed and crossed his arms.

'Also, he'll probably be late again, so he'll be there around eight and I would suggest to eat breakfast.'

'But he said not to' Naruto objected.

'Well it was a suggestion and not an order. A suggestion that truly doesn't make any sense. As a medic nin I can tell you that missing breakfast is not good for you. Furthermore, if you eat a light breakfast without too much protein you'll definitely won't throw up, not to mention that as he'll probably be late we would have had enough time to digest anything we'd eaten in the morning' I explained.

'So, he wanted to trick us, to weaken us' Sasuke noted.

'But that's not fair' Naruto said.

'Dobe we are ninjas we always cheat and definetely do not play fair' Sasuke told him.

'And if he can cheat so can we. We are a team from now on, we'll have to work with each other, so let's plan on how to try and gain an advantage for tomorrow by using each of our skills and sneakiness. For example I suggest that Naruto should trap the training grounds before Kakashi-sensei arrives tomorrow.'

'Traps?' Naruto asked.

From the gleam in Sasuke's eyes I could see that he understood why I suggested Naruto. He had also noticed that Naruto was very good with traps. Really that kid with all his pranking through the years has gotten great at stealth and trap making. I mean if you could get unnoticed while wearing orange then you've reached a completely other level. He could easily become a saboteur if he wanted to. It really would be a useful secondary ability to his front line fighting.

'Yes, dobe think of it as pranking.'

'Just a bit more lethal' I added.

The look on Naruto's face would make Iruka-sensei cry if he was here.

'Oh, great Dattaebeyo. The cyclops won't know what hit him.'

'We should also give a small overview of our skills and weaknesses to each other, so that we can plan accordingly' Sasuke suggested.

The fact that Sasuke added the word weakness there made me want to laugh in glee. He had a bit more humility than his canon self, probably from the times I actually beat him on spars, I mean if another genin can beat you then a Jounin definitely can. Not only that but he was more accepting of teamwork. Thank kami for that. The bell test won't know what hit it.'

'Good idea. Well I'm good with kunai and senbon and quite average with shuriken. My taijutsu is ok, though I don't have that much upper body strength thus I rely more on speed and aim to hit vulnerable points. I am a B-ranked certificated medic and I'm very good with my tanto, which I use to supplement my lack of strength in taijutsu. As far as ninjutsu goes I know the basic academy three, how to enhance my weapons with wind chakra to make them sharper and futon: gale palm. I am studying fuinjutsu as I've mentioned before. I'm still not that good at it but I do have some seals that Naruto can use for trapping tomorrow. I don't know any genjutsu but I can dispel them easily due to my chakra sensing' I listed.

They were impressed. Good. I was not going to be useless like Sakura had been.

'Wow nice. Sora-chan' Naruto exclaimed.

I smiled at him in return.

'Ok my turn' Naruto said. I can use shuriken and kunai just fine don't know how to use senbon though. My taijutsu is the academy one and I'm good at it. I know the academy three and how to make Shadow clones and they are awesome dattabeyo. Sora-chan also says that I have huge chakra reserves. I don't have any we…' I looked at him pointedly before he could finish his sentence. He rubbed his head sheepishly. 'Hehehe kidding. And I suck at genjutsu, I can't cast it nor detect it. That's it.'

I nodded at him and added 'And as we said you are good at pranking and trapping. Now Duck Ass your turn.'

He glared half-heartedly at me for the nickname. He was used to it by now.

'Ok midget' he smirked. 'I am excellent with kunai and shuriken. I also can use ninja wire very efficiently and I'm not familiar with senbon. I'm good at taijutsu at both the academy style and the standard Uchiha one. Though the latter on will get better once I get my Sharingan. I can use the basic academy three and Katon: Grand Fireball technique as well as Katon: Flame bullet. I can dispel genjutsu but I don't know any.

'Ok then let's get to planning' I said.

* * *

The next morning, I came to training ground seven at five in the morning- a travesty! - to find my teammates already there and working on tree climbing.

Sasuke had reached halfway up and Naruto was just a little behind him.

I just shook my head at them fondly.

'Good morning' I said to them.

They both startled at my voice, though Naruto was the only one that fell down, Sasuke still almost slipped.

'Ow. Morning Sora-chan' Naruto said as he stood up.

'Hmm this want do. Both of your situational awareness needs training and I'm very good at training that' I said with a sinister smile. Oh, now I got why my mother enjoyed this so much. Torturing… ahem training my teammates would be fun.

'Go back to what you were doing. Sporadically I will be throwing weapons at you, so please be aware of your surroundings' I said with a smile full of teeth.

'Sora-chan that's dangerous dattabeyo' Naruto complained.

I threw a few senbon at him in response.

He cursed.

'Well it's a good thing that I'm a medic then.'

And that was how the next three hours went. By the time I called them to come and eat something they were both full of scratches.

'You are so mean to us Sora-chan' Naruto grumbled as he ate his onigiri.

I threw more senbon at him.

'Soraaaaa-chan' he whined.

'Come here you big baby. I'll heal you' I said as I used the Mystical Palm technique to heal his wounds, though it was not really needed, he had already started healing due to the nine tails.

'Sasuke now' he glared at me but relented.

'Ok I propose to relax a bit now and do some stretches. It's been four hours, so he'll probably be here soon.'

* * *

That was how Kakashi found us, sitting on the ground and finalizing our plans.

'Yo, my little minions' he said.

The moment he saw Kakashi Naruto was up.

'YOU ARE LATE' he shouted.

'Ma my alarm clock broke and then I forgot my shoes' he said with an eye smile.

'Really? That is your excuse?' I asked him.

'Truly' he said solemnly.

I send him an unimpressed stare which was joined with the Uchiha _you are a peasant_ look No 3.

'Ok now' he said as he took out a timer and two bells. 'I have here two bells. Your challenge is to steal these from me before the timer sounds. Anyone who fails doesn't get any lunch. Instead, you will be tied to that tree stump, so I can eat your lunch in front of you. All you need is one bell apiece. But since there aren't enough to go around, one of you is definitely headed for the stump and whoever that is will be the first of you to fail. One of you is on your way back to the academy. You may use whichever weapon you want. Attack me with the intent to kill or you'll never stand a chance.'

I could tell that both my teammates hadn't expected that.

They were both distraught yet determined.

'You can't do that. We are a team even if the teme is in it' Naruto argued.

'I can do whatever I want. I can even fail all of you' Kakashi threatened. 'Now start.'

Before my teammates could even think of leaving and acting on their own I took their hands and ran for cover in the forest.

Once I felt that we were far enough I let them go.

'Sora you heard him. We can't follow our plan. Each of us will work on our own' Sasuke said and made to leave.

I grabbed him before you could.

'Listen here you Duck Ass did you really hear him because if you did you would have noticed that something isn't right with this test.'

Sasuke looked annoyed. He really didn't like people doubting his intelligence.

'What do you mean Sora-chan?'

'Well have you ever heard of a three people genin cell? Because I haven't. You always have a jounin sensei and three genin.'

I could see the moment when they realized I was right.

'So, he wants us to work together?' Sasuke hypothesized.

'Konoha is famous for its teamwork, so he probably wanted us to work together to complete the mission even if that meant that one of us would had to leave his ambition behind. So, it is probably about teamwork and putting aside our differences to succeed.'

'So, we follow the original plan?' Naruto asked.

'Yep. Let's do this.'

* * *

Kakashi-sensei was reading Icha-icha where we left him when he was attacked by a combination of me and Sasuke.

Sasuke engaged him on taijutsu while I threw wind enhanced senbon at him.

The bastard with his book still in hand evaded each and everyone of Sasuke's hits and all of my senbon.

'Ma what do we have here. Two little kiddies working together?' he asked.

We ignored him.

Sasuke tried to drop kick him.

In retaliation Kakashi-sensei caught his leg and threw him at a tree.

I took out my tanto and charged.

He put his book in his pocket then and took out a kunai.

I reinforced my tanto with wind chakra.

His eye widened, as his kunai broke in half when it came in contact with my sword.

From then on he started evading instead of blocking.

'Ma wind enhanced blade. Surprising' he said.

'Did you expect anything less?' I asked.

'Of course, not devil -chan' he replied.

By then Sasuke had joined the fray again by providing long distance support with kunai.

We locked eyes and he nodded.

He started making hand signs.

I jumped away from Kakashi and replaced myself with Sasuke.

The moment he appeared he finished his seals.

'Katon: Great Fireball technique' he said as he threw a giant ball of fire at Kakashi.

At that moment we were replaced with clones of Naruto that had been two of the twenty that had surrounded the battle field.

All of them along with us threw kunai at where Kakashi had ended when he dodged the fire.

Before anything could reach him, he replaced himself with a log, a log which _coincidentally_ had been booby trapped.

The moment his feet touched the ground it exploded.

Ah good old Naruto.

After that he had to dodge a barrage out of barrage of weapons, explosives, smoke bombs and other things that had been triggered by the explosion. Though he did make it seem easy.

Naruto appeared from where he had been hiding and smiled at me wickedly.

I smiled back at him and mouthed plan two to him.

He nodded and one hundred henged clones that looked like all three of us were send to attack Kakashi-sensei, who had just finished getting through all the traps.

'Ah my cute little students are really trying to kill me I'm so proud' Kakashi said as he dispelled another clone with a casual punch. I didn't even know I could use the word casual to describe a punch!

Huh you learn something new every day.

Sasuke and I hid behind the clones and started making hand signs.

'Futon: Gale Palm' I shouted.

At the same time Sasuke's voice echoed mine 'Katon: Great fireball technique'.

His fireball got joined by my wind attack.

The result was devastating.

My inner pyromaniac laughed in maniacal glee.

I could feel the same from Sasuke, though somehow his glee was even greater than mine.

And then I remembered Uchiha.

They solved all their problems with fire.

I focused back on the battle and realized that the fire had started getting bigger as it got out of control and started burning the trees.

I looked at Sasuke panicked.

He looked back wide eyed.

Kakashi appeared next to us and shook his head.

'Really?' he drawled as he started making handsigns.

'Suiton: water bullet'.

The fire died down and Kakashi turned to look at us unimpressed.

'Maybe we overdid it a little bit?' I asked embarrassed.

From the small blush I could see on Sasuke's face he hadn't expected that to happen either.

Kakashi muttered something to himself that sounded suspiciously like _puppies_.

'Well my cute little students you only have a minute left and no bells. What will you do now?' Kakashi asked.

In response Naruto jumped on top of him from his place on the tree above us and Sasuke attacked him with a kunai at each hand.

He easily threw Naruto on a nearby tree and then send Sasuke flying after him.

While this was happening, I had an absolutely ludicrous idea.

I did it anyway.

I concentrated and replaced myself with the bells. This took a lot of chakra of chakra from me as the smaller the object, the less mass it had, thus more chakra.

But I succeeded. I was in front of a bewildered Kakashi the moment the alarm rang and the bells were right in front of Sasuke where I had been, who while just as flabbergasted as the others were had some intelligence and quickly grabbed them.

I smiled at Kakashi-sensei 'Surprise.'

'You, you kawarimed with the bells' he said dumbly and then he started laughing.

He shook his head 'Only you devil-chan only you.'

I just smiled smugly at him.

Then Naruto tackled me to the ground 'Sora-chan that was awesome! We totally won!'.

Sasuke came to stand next to us with a small smirk on his face, he too happy for our success.

'Really it was so simple that it is ridiculous. Brilliant but ridiculous.'

Kakashi had calmed down now.

'So Sasuke now that you have the bells what will you do with them? Who will go back to the academy?'

He threw the bells at Naruto and me 'No one' he said 'we are a team.'

'Is that true?' Kakashi asked.

'Yeah dattabeyo. We are a team. Team awesome'.

'That's right Kakashi-sensei. We are team seven and we have already figured out that the goal for this exercise is teamwork' I added.

'Is that so, then ... YOU PASS' Kakashi said.

'Yatta' Naruto shouted.

'You are the first team that got the purpose of the test, which was to overcome the fact that one of you had to fail in order to work together for the sake of completing the mission. Not only that but you planned according to each of your strengths and took advantage of the fact that you knew the battle field by setting traps. You worked well with each other and looked underneath the underneath. You didn't take what as I said as the truth and looked for the hidden meanings behind my words. You stood together as a team while you faced my bluff that I would fail one of you head on and didn't abandon each other. Because you see those who break the ninja rules and fail to follow orders are trash but those who abandon their comrades are worse than that' he explained.

I shivered even though I already knew that he'd say it, it still rang true deep in me. From the somber feelings I got from my teammates they were affected too.

'You are now officially team seven. Meet me here tomorrow at seven to begin our formal training' Kakashi said and then disappeared with a shunshin.

I turned to my teammates 'Wanna go grab some lunch?'

'Yes. Let's have ramen' Naruto shouted as he started heading towards the market street.

'Dobe we are not having ramen' Sasuke argued.

'What? Teme how dare you deny me the food of the Gods.'

I smiled fondly at them as I followed behind them.

In the end we did eat ramen after all.

* * *

 **A/N: Another chapter.**

 **I hope you guys enjoyed it.**

 **Please review, your opinions are precious.**

 **xoxo**


	7. Chapter 7- Team 7

**I will seize fate by the throat; it shall certainly never wholly overcome me. -Ludwig van Beethoven**

* * *

 **Chapter 7 – Team 7**

Seven o' clock the next morning team seven sans Kakashi -such a big surprise…not- were in training ground seven.

I took a look at my grumpy teammates and sighed. It seemed that I would have to teach in Kakashi's stead until he arrived. Again.

Bastard.

'Guys how are you doing with the Tree walking exercise?' I asked.

'I've reached a bit more than half the tree' Naruto grumbled.

'Around three quarters' Sasuke responded.

'Ok then as we know Kakashi won't arrive for at least three hours so why won't you work on that while I keep practising my aiming' I suggested.

Both boys blanched as they remembered yesterday's torture session but got to work without complains.

They knew that complaining equalled more pain.

They learned that the hard way.

For the next three hours I read a book on medicinal plants and threw senbon and kunai at the boys. The book was one of the five that Akira-sensei gave me last week as a present for our five years of apprenticeship that sadly came to a stop when I got promoted to a genin. Though I was planning on still working at the hospital when I had the time, as I enjoyed it. Not to mention that the practise would keep my skills sharp.

By the time Kakashi came the boys had almost reached the top of their trees and looked like porcupines.

'Yo my little minions' Kakashi said.

Naruto jumped down from were he was at the tree.

'You are late' he shouted.

'Eh you see I saw a black cat on the street and so I had to take the long way to come here' Kakashi bullshitted.

Needless to say, by the looks of our faces none of us were impressed.

'Ok' Kakashi clapped his hands. 'Let's go and get our first mission'.

'Oh yeah let's go and kick some ass' Naruto said excited.

Even Sasuke was feeling somehow excited.

Kakashi only felt humour and anticipation. Probably to see our disappointment when we heard what tedious task we'd have to do as a D -rank mission.

Bastard.

That didn't mean I said anything to warn them.

It would be fun to see their faces.

And it was. Their stunned faces -or as stunned as an Uchiha could manage to look in Sasuke's case – when the Hokage read the mission assignments were glorious.

'We'll take the fence painting one' Kakashi said.

The Hokage nodded and gave the mission scroll to Kakashi and then we all headed to our destination.

The moment we left the Hokage's tower it seemed that Naruto had woken up from his horrified stupor.

'What the hell kind of missions are these? We are ninjas dammit not cleaners or babysitters' he angrily exclaimed.

I couldn't help but agree with him.

'Well they are D-ranks and we did just graduate, so we lack the experience and skill needed to do anything more difficult than that but we still need to take missions in order to work on teamwork between teammates and for orphans to make money. They are also supposed to work as showing ninjas in a better light to the civilians and they are generally good for the economy. Just think of it this way Naruto, if we do many D -ranks quickly we'll soon be qualified for a C-rank mission' I explained.

My last sentence seemed to have caught my teammates attention.

'So, the sooner we get done with them…' Sasuke started

'… the sooner we'll be able to take serious missions' I said with a smirk.

'How many do we need to qualify, Kakashi- sensei?' Naruto asked.

'Hmm oh you need sixteen D-ranks' Kakashi said nonchalantly, though his emotions betrayed him amusement.

'Ok let's do this dattabeyo' Naruto shouted.

I exchanged a look with Sasuke and we nodded to each other. We were going with this plan.

We reached our destination. It was a small one-story house with a big garden that was surrounded by a wooden fence. Its red colour was faded and now looked rusty brown.

The old lady that owned the place gave us some buckets of paint and some brushes and left us to work.

Kakashi decided to be a great help by sitting down and reading his book while we painted.

The bastard.

It was two hours later that I had enough.

'Naruto can you make shadow clones to help us? The faster we get done the faster we can get another mission or train' I suggested.

By the way Naruto's eyes sparkled he totally agreed with my way of thinking.

'Great idea Sora-chan. How many should I make?' he asked.

'Make fifteen' Sasuke suggested.

And that was how we finished our mission in three hours.

After that we ate lunch and went back to Hokage's tower to get another mission scroll and give back the now signed previous one.

Grandfather was perplexed when he saw us.

'Done already?' he asked

'Of course, grandfather. We are team awesome after all. Now give us another one' I said with a cheeky smile.

By the end of that day we had finished three D-ranks much to my grandfather's perplexment and Kakashi's exasperation.

And that was how the next two weeks went.

Every morning we met up. I brought us breakfast and then we worked out together. The boys had perfected Tree walking and after that I showed them Water walking. That too they had down in about a week. It really felt like I was their teacher.

Figures the lazy ass passed his job on me.

After that Kakashi showed up with some lame excuse and we did missions for the rest of that day. With a liberal abuse of Shadow clones in two weeks we had done forty-two missions. We probably broke a record or something.

But even though we had done enough D- ranks Kakashi still hadn't accepted a C-rank for us as he said it was too soon.

This routine surprisingly was broken by Kakashi on the fifteenth day.

* * *

The boys and I had just finished sparring, two hours in the morning when I was reminded of something I wanted to discuss with Naruto. His shadow clones.

'Naruto, I wanted to ask you something' I said

'What's up Sora-Chan?' he asked from where he laid on the ground.

'Do you know the abilities of a shadow clone?' I asked.

'Eh what do you mean? They are clones. They do whatever I ask them to'.

So, he didn't know. Can't have him being ignorant now.

'I've read somewhere that Shadow clones when they dispel send their memories to their creator' I said.

From his look Naruto didn't get the significance of the fact. Sasuke though by the way his face shown in realisation did.

'Eh? They do? How come I don't know about it?' he asked.

'Make a clone so we can test it' I suggested.

He did as asked.

I got up. 'Ok I am going to tell something to Clone Naru and then he'll dispel. If you get the memory tell us' I instructed.

He nodded.

I took the clone by the hand and led him out of hearing range.

'Roses are red and violets are blue' I whispered to him.

He gave me a thumb's up and dispelled.

I headed back.

'Well?' I asked him.

'Roses are red and violets are blue' he said. 'Yatta that is awesome'.

I nodded.

'That can be good for information gathering and training' Sasuke said.

'Yes, it can. We should also test if other clones can get the memories too. If that is possible then in a situation where we have to separate each of us can have a clone with us that can dispel and pass information to the others' I said.

I could see that both of my teammates could see the appeal of that.

'Dobe make two clones' Sasuke ordered.

'Shut up teme' Naruto said though he did make them.

I took one with me again and whispered to him 'Chocolate is better than ramen'.

The clone looked at me with a look of pure outrage and disgust and dispelled.

When I went back I could tell by both Narutos faces that they knew what I said.

'Chocolate is not better than ramen' Clone Naru argued.

'Yeah Sora-chan your words are the personification of blasphemy' Naruto agreed.

Sasuke cut to the chase before the argument could continue 'So it worked?'

Clone Ruto stopped glaring at me and beamed.

'Yep I got the memories from other me too' he said and then dispelled.

'Dobe you actually have a use' Sasuke admitted.

'Thanks, Teme… wait what? Of course, I have uses. I am awesome you bastard' Naruto huffed.

Sasuke gave him the unimpressed Uchiha look no 3 in response.

It was my turn to cut in.

'Yeah we're like the greatest team ever. We are team Uzu-Saru-Chi' I declared.

They both looked at me weirdly.

'Uzu-Saru-Chi?' Sasuke asked incredulously.

'Yeah from Uzumaki, Sarutobi and Uchiha. We are like the Ino-Shika-Cho trio' I explained.

'I like it dattabeyo. Uzu-Saru-Chi for the win' Naruto said.

We both looked at Sasuke expectantly.

He thought about it and then nodded.

'It does sound acceptable'.

I beamed. That was Uchiha speak for it's good.

It was at that moment that Kakashi-sensei arrived.

'Hello my little ducklings' he said.

'You are late again Kakashi-sensei' Naruto shouted at him.

'Ma you see I lost my sandals and had to find them' he said.

'Liar' I muttered.

'Anyway. Today we aren't going on missions. Today each of you will spar with me to see at what level you are' he said.

I can't say that I wasn't surprised. I didn't expect that at all nor did my teammates.

That didn't mean that it wasn't a pleasant surprise.

'What? Awesome dattabayo' Naruto shouted.

Kakashi ignored him and made two shadow clones.

'Ok, Sasuke, Naruto you'll spar with my shadow clones while I spar with Sora-Chan here. Follow them and when you are done come back here' he said.

The boys nodded and followed after their respective clones.

After that it was just me and Kakashi left in the clearing.

'Ok devil-chan. Come at me with everything you got. I want to see all your skills. Start with taijutsu and continue as you want' he said.

I nodded at him.

I deactivated my weight seals and then attacked.

I tried to go for his throat, groin, stomach and several of his pressure point but every move I made he blocked.

After I felt that I had showed him enough to get an idea for my taijutsu I upped the scale a bit.

I made some distance between us and threw some wind enhanced senbon at him while I gave myself a moment to focus.

Then suddenly chakra scalpels appeared at my hands.

While I was not the most proficient yet at using them offensively, I could still use them to cut muscle tissues and tendons.

In a moment I was onto Kakashi-sensei, who when he realized what was in my hands focused on dodging instead of blocking.

'You know how to use Chakra Scalpels devil-chan?' he asked surprised.

'Yes. Though I'm not the best at them yet' I said.

He nodded at that piece of info.

As I couldn't hit him with those -not that I would be able with anything else- I turned off the technique and took out my tanto.

Kakashi took out two kunai and we engaged in battle once more.

Periodically I would also enhance my sword with wind chakra to make it cut sharper.

'Who taught you how to use the blade Sora-chan? There are not many kenjustu users in Konoha.'

'My mother. She is from the Ota clan, which used to specialize in kenjutsu and assassination' I said.

He hummed in response.

His next block pushed me a few meters back.

I used the opportunity to use my one futon ninjutsu.

I seathed my tanto and quickly made the handsigns.

'Futon: gale palm' I shouted.

Kakashi used a substitution with a log to escape my attack and then engaged me again in close combat battle.

I took out my tanto again and we continued fighting for the next five minutes.

'Ok devil-chan, we are done' he said.

I nodded and sheathed my tanto.

'Ok sit down and we'll wait for the others' he told me.

I did as asked.

Five minutes later both the boys had joined us.

'Ok my cute little students. Let's give a synopsis of my assessment of your skills' Kakashi started saying.

'Sasuke you are good at the academy style taijutsu, as for the Uchiha one you are average at it but it is expected as you don't yet have the Sharingan. We can probably find a style that doesn't rely on it in the meantime. Your shuriken and kunai use is good as is your use of ninja wire. Though I think you could use some originality there. We need to work both on your speed and strength. Both your fire jutsu are good and we need to teach you some genjustu. Especially as with your sharingan you'll probably end up being the genjustu specialist of our team.'

'Now Naruto. You are good with the academy style taijutsu, but I think we should find you another one as it doesn't seem to suit you. You are way too unpredictable as a fighter and your fighting style should embody that. You are good with kunai. We'll have to work more on shuriken. You also need more speed and strength. You have a lot of chakra, so I'm not sure how that will go with gengutsu but you'll have to find a way to dispel them or you'll be in big danger. You have a good grasp of how to use your shadow clones but you'll have to learn to use them in a more strategic way. We also have to add in your ninjutsu repertoire as with all that chakra you have it would be a waste if we didn't.

'Last but not least Sora-Chan. You are good with both the academy style and your own fughting style that you are making , which I will help you polish. Your speed is good but that doesn't mean that we can't improve it. You also need more upper body strength, though you do use your tanto to compensate for that. Your kenjutsu is good as is your kunai and senbon use. You also use your medical training in battle, which is a nice touch, though admittedly I can't help you much there as I do not know medical ninjutsu. You are good at enhancing your weapons with wind chakra and you have one wind jutsu that you are good at. You also need to learn some genjustu' he concluded.

'Ok. Tomorrow we meet up for training at seven. Sora-chan can you make weight seals like yours for your teamates?' he asked.

Seriously did he notice everything?

'Yeah I can' I said.

'Ok bring those tomorrow' he said and then vanished.

* * *

The next day a miracle happened.

Kakashi appeared only one hour late.

I kidd you not he actually did.

And after that he actually started training us.

How that happened I did not know as I could swear that in canon he didn't teach his team much or was it only in fanfiction?

I probably changed something again.

Eh it was for the better.

At least that was what I though until I realized what a sadist Kakashi-sensei actually was.

The following two weeks focused on endurance training.

I just called it plain torture.

He made us ran ten laps around the training ground with our weight seals on.

Mine at three kilos per limb while they boys had five.

Made us do obstacle courses.

Muscle building exercises.

Dodge training ten times worse than mine or mother's.

I would never complain to her again.

Made us spar while water walking.

It was pure, bloody hell.

Though through our blood, tears and oaths of revenge we did bond more as a team.

Even Naruto and Sasuke.

So yay for the team?

.

.

It was now a month after we got together as a team and we were expecting another day of hell training when instead Kakashi announced that it was time for us to take a C-rank.

'Yatta finally' Naruto shouted as he started skipping towards the Hokage's tower.

I exchanged an exasperated look with Sasuke as we followed after him.

After ten minutes of hearing Naruto's excited babbling we finally reached the mission assignment desk.

'Team seven here for a C-rank' Kakashi said.

Grandpa smiled 'Ah yes team seven. You certainly are qualified. I just got one that will be perfect for you. You will be hired as bodyguards to the land of Waves.'

Godfucking dammit.

Wasn't that the mission with the dude with the butcher knife and his feminine pacifistic sidekick?

Fuck. How was it even possible to get this as our first mission too?

Godamn fate was laughing at me.

I just knew it.

* * *

 **A/N: New chapter...Yay.**

 **Do you like it? Do you hate it?**

 **Please review!**

 **xoxo**


	8. Chapter 8 -The Land of Waves Part 1

**"Lies and secrets, Tessa, they are like a cancer in the soul. They eat away what is good and leave only destruction behind."**  
 **―** Cassandra Clare, Clockwork Prince

* * *

 **Chapter 8 -The Land of Waves**

While I was internally lamenting fate, Naruto was jumping up and down from excitement.

'Oooh who are we guarding? A lord? The daimyo? A princess?' he asked rappidly.

'Compose yourself Naruto-kun. I'll perform the introductions straight away' grandpa said. 'Invite him in' he ordered the chunin guards.

The door that led to a kind of customer sevice office opened and an old man around the age of fifty came out. He had a grumpy face, wore glasses and had a bottle of sake in his right hand.

He took one look at us and spoke 'What these are my guards? They look like a bunch of wet- nosed brats'. Charming. Really so charming our client was. My first impression of him especially was fantastic.

He took a swing of his drink and continued.

'Especially the midget. He's got the face of an imbecile. It's a joke, right? You kids aren't really ninja, are you?'

I may be short but Naruto was shorter and it didn't take long for him to realize that.

'Haha. Who is the midget?' he asked. He looked at me then at Sasuke and slowly realization crept on his face. 'I'll kill him' he shouted and made to lunge at our client.

Kakashi stopped him by grabbing on the back of his jacket.

'Wrong. No killing the old man you've been assigned to protect.'

I exchanged an amused look with Sasuke.

'I am Tazuna, a bridge builder of ultimate renown, until I am safely back in my own country, where I'll be completing my next bridge, you'll all be expected to protect me… even if it costs you your lives!'

Dramatic bastard. I sure as hell wasn't sacrificing my life for this bastard.

'Don't worry Tazuna-san we will do our jobs to protect you' Kakashi told him.

He then turned to us. 'Ok kiddos we are meeting up at seven tomorrow morning. Our mission will probably last for around a month give or take. So, pack accordingly.'

'Hai sensei' we chorused.

* * *

The moment I got home I was barrelled by Konohamaru.

'Nee-Chan can we play?' he asked with those big adorable eyes of his.

'I can't Maru-Chan but you can help me pack. I'm going to my first C-rank mission tomorrow and it will last a while' I told him.

He looked at me with eyes full of awe.

'That is awesome Nee-Chan. You are going to fight all the bad guys and win and save a princess…' he babbled on and on as I led him to my room.

I didn't mind. I liked spending time with him and his hero worship was very flattering.

We were taught in the academy what we were supposed to pack on missions and mother had also lectured me on it once, so I knew what to take with me thankfuly.

I took out three pairs of clothing identical with the ones I usually wore, some underwear, my pyjamas and a jacket. A bar of odourless soap, that was the standard for missions, my toothpaste and toothbrush a long with my brush. I sealed all these in a storage scroll much to Maru-Chan's joy. He loved my seals.

He was such a cute brother.

I gave him a kiss on the cheek for being a cinnamon roll and went back to work.

I then sealed my bed roll and tent in another storage scroll.

In another I put my ration bars, water purification tablets, a spare canteen and some herbs.

I sealed my first aid kit to which I added some more bandages and then I packed some additional kunai and senbon.

I even took my sealing kit with me and some of my pre-made tags.

I then took all the storage scrolls and organized them in my backpack and packed my filled water canteen on top for easy reach.

As I did this I explained to my brother why I took something and for what reason.

He was very attentive to what I was saying to him.

He even asked questions.

Such a good little brother.

When I was finishing mom appeared at the door.

'Going somewhere?' she asked.

'Yes. My first C-rank to the Land of Waves. We leave tomorrow. I am going to be gone for about a month.'

I could feel some surprise from her though it was mostly covered by her worry.

'That is soon. Well are you packed?' I nodded. 'Ok be careful dear. I'll be going on a mission in an hour and your father will be back tonight from his. So, I won't be seeing you tomorrow.'

Now that Konohamaru had started the academy and was old enough to care for himself by ninja standards, she went back to taking missions.

I nodded and hugged her.

'Be safe mom' I whispered to her.

'You too dear' she kissed me on the forehead, hugged Konohamaru and left.

* * *

It was around eight o clock in the evening when I decided to go and help Naruto pack, as I am pretty sure that he'd forget something.

I had faith in Sasuke's ability to pack.

In Naruto's case I was pretty sure he'll only pack ramen.

I knocked at the door of his apartment.

While the apartment was old, it wasn't in a bad state, though Naruto was one of the only five habitats of the building what with people avoiding the _demon brat_ as they called him.

Those Bastards.

The building also wasn't in the red-light district. It was only twenty minutes from the Hokage tower and it was in a relatively ok neighbourhood.

Naruto opened the door and looked at me in surprise.

'Sora-chan, what are you doing here?' he asked.

'I am going to help you pack lest you only pack ramen'.

'I resent that' he said.

I looked at him with my _who are you trying to kid_ face.

He laughed nervously 'Only half of it is' he admitted.

I shook my head in exasperation 'come on sunshine let's pack'.

I had given both boys in my team some days prior some storage scrolls and some flash tags I'd made so I didn't bring any with me. Though Naruto seemed to have forgotten about them since his backpack was full and not even half of his gear was in it.

'Naruto you do remember the storage scrolls I gave you, right?' I asked him.

'The storage scrolls… oh fuck. How did I do that?' he lamented about his own stupidity while he brought them from where he had stashed them.

I emptied his bag and started lecturing him about the things he needed to pack, while he brought me the things I asked him to.

He did miss some things like a first aid kit and some water purification tablets. He didn't necessarily need them now as I had enough, but I wrote them down for him to buy in the future.

'And we are done' I told him as I closed his backpack.

Suddenly, I was assaulted by orange.

'Thanks Sora-Chan' he told me in a sincere voice.

I could feel the gracefulness from his and I smiled.

'Don't mention it Ruto' I said.

'Now go to sleep. See you tomorrow Naruto.'

* * *

The next morning, I arrived at the Main Gate to see my teammates and Tazuna already there.

We had to wait for Kakashi for half an hour till he finally came and by then Tazuna had gone from just grumbling to outright bitching.

'Really Kakashi-sensei? Late even on missions' I asked him.

'I had to avoid a hole on my way here so I had to go on the long way around' he said cheerfully. 'Now let's go minions.'

'Great. This is my first time outside the village' Naruto informed us as he skipped ahead.

Personally, I had been outside the village a couple of times when I had to join grandpa on some diplomatic dinners with the daimyo at the capitol. But I've never been to the Land of Waves.

We got in formation with me on point as I was a sensor, Naruto on my right, Sasuke on my left, while Kakashi guarded our backs.

In the middle of our formation was Tazuna.

We walked in civilian pace thanks to our client so, the whole thing was rather boring. In three hours we were out of things to discuss.

On the second day we even played eye spy but it got rather repetitive when the trees were the only things you saw.

The closer we got to the Land of Waves the more anxious Tazuna became.

On the third night while we camped I decided to inform Kakashi about it.

We were sitting around the campfire having just finished eating the bunnies Sasuke caught. The boys were arguing, Tazuna had fallen asleep, so I took my chance and sat next to Kakashi.

He glanced at me quizzingly from the top of his book.

'Kakashi-sensei I think Tazuna is hiding something' I told him.

He didn't appear surprised to this fact, I was sure that he had noticed it too.

'Why do you think that devil-chan?' he asked me.

'Well his chakra radiates too much anxiousness and trepidation to just be waiting for a bandit attack. I am guessing that he might have someone after him' I explained.

I could feel his shock when I told him that.

He even lowered his book.

'Sora-Chan you can feel people's emotions from their chakra?' he asked.

'Yes, I can though I have to be around that person for sometime in order to get feelings from them. For example, you feel shock right now.'

'Devil-Chan that is a very useful ability to have and we'll have to train you in it. I knew that you were a good sensor but not this good' he ruffled my hair. 'You really are full of surprises, aren't you?' he asked fondly.

Huh I didn't know that this empathy wasn't very common to sensors.

I smiled at him and shrugged. 'But what about…'

He interrupted me 'We'll just have to wait and see. Be on your guard and check for chakra signatures in case there is someone after him' he instructed me.

I nodded at him and went to sleep until it was time for my shift.

.

.

About mid afternoon the next day I started feeling two chakra signatures running parallel to us in about a kilometre away from us.

I signed that to my teammates in code and they all stood on guard, even Naruto who thanks to me and the rest of our friends learned the standard codes.

Kakashi signed back to keep him updated and I nodded in affirmative.

The two unknowns ran parallel to us for some time then went out of my range and came back some time later. This went on on repeat for two hours until they stopped about 1.5 kilometres ahead of us. I could tell that their chakra was being muted somehow now.

I signed again the details to my teammates and they nodded.

When we were a hundred meters before the place the enemy had stopped I could spot a puddle in the place where the chakra signatures were.

I informed my teammates 'Ambush, puddle, 100 meters.'

I was really nervous and I could feel my teammates feeling the same.

Kakashi on the other hand was mostly calm though he too felt somehow tense.

It was his emotions that calmed me down as we passed by the puddle. He would protect if anything too bad happened.

I was four meters passed it when it exploded and two figures came flying from it holding a chain between them.

They wrapped it around Kakashi-sensei and ripped him to pieces. Or at least it seemed that way. He had cast a replacement jutsu to a log and a genjutsu to make it seem like he was dying.

'One little piggy' they said.

'Kakashi-sensei' Naruto said terrified.

The two enemies headed for the frozen Naruto.

I put myself in a better place to guard Tazuna and threw two wind enhanced kunai that cut their chain in half and made them lose their balance.

'Naruto move and make clones to attack' I ordered him.

His body almost in auto pilot followed my order, probably from all our training together.

'Kage Bunshin no Jutsu' he shouted.

Ten shadow clones appeared in front of us and provided cover.

Sasuke used his chance and threw a fireball at one of the enemies. He dove to the side to escape the attack only to get a kick on the head from a Ruto clone and be knocked unconscious.

The other one had dispelled the rest of the shadow clones and was heading towards me and Tazuna.

I quickly made hand signs 'Fuiton: gale palm.'

He was hit with my attack and flew into a tree.

Before he could get up again Kakashi had appeared in front of him and knocked him out.

'Good job team' he said cheerfully, as if he hadn't supposedly died.

'Kakashi-sensei you are alive?' Naruto asked. He looked back were he had faked his death and saw a log. 'Replacement huh? Stupid sensei made us worried' he grumbled.

'If you were alive. Why did you leave the kids to handle it?' Tazuna asked.

'Well you see.' Kakashi said with a pretty scary look on his face 'The people that attacked us were ninja from Kiri. I had to see if it was one of us that they were after or you, so I let them attack us. Even after they killed me they still headed towards you. Therefore, I conclude that they were after you. Something you want to tell us Tazuna-san?'

Tazuna was sweating bullets by now.

He put on a sad face and started telling us the story of how Wave Country was under an economic dictatorship by Gato the businessman who owned shipping companies officially that also acted as a smokescreen for his criminal activities. He had managed to block and control all transportation and trade from and to the island and his only obstacle to complete control was the bridge Tazuna was building. As for why he lied, Wave didn't have enough money for a B- rank mission.

He even threw in a sob story about his grandson and how he would miss him if he died.

Naruto had gotten into the story and was all for supporting him, while from Sasuke wasn't feeling that much sympathy mostly determination. I on the other hand was not impressed with the liar, neither was Kakashi from the unimpressed look on his eye.

'Well this is much more dangerous than we were expecting. This is a lot for fresh genin team. Maybe we should head back' Kakashi said once Tazuna had finished recounting his story.

'Nope. Kakashi-sensei we should continue. We can't fail our mission and wave need us to save it. And we easily took out these guys' Naruto said.

'Hn. It won't look good on us if we quit our first mission' Sasuke agreed.

Now everyone looked at me.

'Sora-chan? Your call' Kakashi said, though I knew that was a lie. If he didn't want to complete the mission we wouldn't even if we wanted to. He was the commanding officer after all.

'I agree that it won't look good if we fail our first mission but if we continue with this we must be careful. These guys from what I felt from their chakra were low chunin. Gato is one of the richest people in the world, so who is to say there won't be more ninja after us? Some of them may even be Jounin. We should continue but with cautiousness' I concluded.

'Ok then if we all agree, we should deal with those and continue' Kakashi said.

'What are we going to do with them?' I asked him.

'I'll tie them up and send Pakkun to border patrol to come and pick them up. They might have some information for T&I' he said.

'I can give you some knock - out tags I made' I offered.

He thought about it for a moment and then nodded.

I pulled them out of my bag and tagged both missing nin.

At the same time Kakashi summoned Pakkun.

'What's up boss?' he asked.

'Whoa who is the dog and why can it talk?' Naruto asked.

'Naruto this is Pakkun, he is one of my ninken. Pakkun this is my team. Naruto, Sasuke and you already know Sora-chan.'

'Yo' the pug said.

I could tell Tazuna was freaked out by the talking dog. He was muttering to himself about finally having drank too much alcohol and needing to sit down.

I crouched down and hugged Pakkun close to me.

'Hi Pakkun. Missed me?' I asked as I scratched behind his ear.

'Of course. You give us cuddles and take care of the Boss' he said.

'Sora-chan stop cuddling my ninken. He is a hunter not a freaking cuddle toy' Kakashi said exasperated.

I stuck my tongue out at him but still did as I was ordered.

'Pakkun I want you to go to the closest outpost and tell them to come pick up these guys. They are Kiri missing nin.'

'Ok boss' the pug said and then left.

'Ok minions let's go' Kakashi ordered us.

We took formation again and headed towards wave.

I just hoped that we wouldn't get killed once we reached our destination.

* * *

A/N: I updated again.

I hope you enjoyed the new chapter.

Please review.

xoxo


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